Get Played - Vampire Games with LB Hunktears

Episode Date: October 28, 2024

LB Hunktears joins Matt & Nick to talk Spooky Season, Baseball, Vampire games and more! Wishlist their Vampire Visual Novel Fledgling Manor on Steam and check out the demo on Steam on itch.io! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @getplayedpod. Music by Ben Prunty benpruntymusic.com. Art by Duck Brigade duckbrigade.com. Check out our Anime watch-along podcast Get Anime'd and our complete Get Played, How Did This Get Played? and Premium DLC back catalogue only on patreon.com/getplayed. Join us on our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/getplayed Wanna leave us a voicemail? Call 616-2-PLAYED (616-275-2933) or write us an email at [e-mail] Advertise on Get Played via Gumball.fmSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a HeadGum Podcast. Hey Ranch, I guess Nick is running late so we can just get started whenever he gets here. Hopefully not too long, you know, kind of a big show today. Oh, hey buddy, kind of a big show today. Oh, here I am. Hey buddy, notice anything different about me? Where the hell did you, were you in here this whole time? How did you get in here so fast? Well, I just had to wait for the sun to go down

so it was safe for me to walk through the city streets and get to the studio. You know what? Did you say bleh? Yeah, but that's the thing I say sometimes. You know, come to think of it, I am noticing something a little bit different about you. Did you get like a tan or something recently? It's perhaps a bit of a reverse tan. Okay, it's not that. Oh, I think I got it. Are you wearing like new clothes kind of?

Some would say they're very old clothes. Wait, wait, wait, wait, no, no, no, no. Wait, what was that? Ho, ho, ho, ho, that's how I laugh now. Okay, gosh, I do notice something. I'm just trying to really pinpoint what it could be. Excuse me, Tate, let me take a drink of this blood flavored La Croix

Ah, that's hmm. Hmm Favorite beverage forgot to say orange. You forgot to say the blood orange. No, it's not. It's not blood orange Lose the orange. It's cleaner. You Sean Parker did I Sean Parker did okay? If that's it, so it's not, you're not tan, you're wearing old clothes. Oh, is it that, have you been working out? I have been working out, but it's not related. I'm just trying to figure out what's so different about you, it just seems so... I guess you could say that my lower body has gotten a lot stronger from hanging upside down.

Oh, you got one of those inversion tables or something? In a matter of speaking. It's my favorite way to rest is upside down. Well, my second favorite after lying in a coffin. God, what is it that's so different about you? I'm just like having such a hard time putting it together. Uh. Oh, I just accidentally cut my tongue with my vampire fangs.

They're so sharp. Oh my god. I feel so stupid. I know what it is. You went to the dentist? I went to the dentist. Oh, those chompers are looking good, my man. Oh, by the way, I'm sorry.

I know that you were running late. I didn't have time to eat before I got here. Do you mind if I just open up this box of garlic fries? Oh! We toss holy water projectiles and avoid the sun, as gamers do, as we discuss all things vampire video game related this week on Get Played. Wow, it's Get Slayed, your one-stop show for good games bad games and every game in between it's time to get Flayed I'm your host ik diger along with bat Apple Dracula

I'm so thrown off. I know that I'm supposed to say something. I literally almost said what's up, bitch? Hello everyone and or go to hell everyone I oh wow there you go What's up, bitch? Like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like,

like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like,

like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like,

like, like, like, like, like, like, like, I think spring on somebody toward the end of the month when we typically would be doing Well, there's a one-off it's a one-off yeah, happy Halloween happy Halloween buddy Leatherface and Campbell is out this week, but you know who is here our producer This is the name I thought for you spawn ranch. That was the Manson family headquarters. I love it is the name I thought for you, Spawn Ranch. That was the Manson family headquarters. I love it. I was gonna say you said that, like,

Ranch doesn't know. Of course you know. So it's like, my first book I ever read was Helter Skelter, what the hell? Who's your favorite Manson girl, Ranch? Ranch, are you a fan of the spooky season? I do, I love the spooky season. What is your ranking in your hierarchy of holidays?

Number one. Number one, wow. Number one. Wow, how about yourself? You know, I like Halloween, I like spooky, I like candy. Candy is great, love that. I do think there is, this is and look I'm gonna I feel like I'm even getting I'm gonna get in trouble in this room I think for saying

okay there's a Disney adult element to Halloween that's fair yeah it's got everybody's got to just calm down a little bit I think it's good I like it I think it's fine to like a normal, but if you're talking September 28th, it's spooky season. Shut up. Shut up. Don't do that. End of October, I think it's fully appropriate for everyone. It's the most appropriate at the end of October.

On the 31st? Yeah. You won't find a more appropriate day for it as far as I'm concerned. Then when it's November 1st, knock it off. No, and then it's- We're going to move on with our lives. Straight to Christmas. Yeah, we're going right to it.

Doing a little Christmas speed run. Hey, we have a wonderful guest with us today, a writer, narrative and content designer. That demo for their upcoming game, Fledgling Manor, a supernatural horror visual novel, is available on Steam and itch.io. LBHunk, yours is here. Hi LB.

Hello, thank you so much for having me. LB, I assume with your Suspiria hat, a fan of the spooky season yourself. I love the spooky season, but I agree with there's a Disney adult element and I never wanna be the person being like, it's spooky season everybody, let's get creepy. Yeah.

Yeah, it falls into the category of person I think that will say, oh, it's the Sunday scaries because they gotta go back to work on Monday and stuff you ever hear this You hear this you know about this am I have I maybe said it yeah Well, you're actually genuinely terrified Yeah, but but yeah, there's there's like the cutesy side of Halloween I agree, and then there's also like this like up like horror side, which is also its own fun. And I'm not trying to be a bully or nothing.

Yeah. I am. Okay. Hi, welcome to, I'm new here, welcome to your audience. I'm a bully. I'll be a bully if you like to be a bully. Let's be, who are we gonna bully? Let's bully Nick.

Great. Hey, wait a minute. Sounds good. All right, we have plenty of horror to talk about, but also another thing that's happening, before we were recording that we were talking about, and we're a little in advance here, but baseball will still be ongoing, the baseball season.

That's right. LB, I know you're something of a sporto, and Matt, you're a big time Dodger fan. Love the Dodgers. Do you have any, where do we stand on baseball games? Anyone ever play one of the baseball video game ever get into MLB the show or back in the day like an RBI baseball or something I'll say for me. Yeah, I loved

The backyard series. Oh, yeah the little children's games, yeah, those were fun and silly of Athletes and those are really fun. There was a backyard baseball one that I believe I played on the Gamecube with one of my younger brothers and We enjoyed that quite a bit any of the backyard sports really I liked I've tried in recent years to get into MLB the show. Yeah, and just can't do it. There's something about it that I don't love. There was a baseball game that I actually really liked on the PlayStation 2 that it's gonna be impossible

for me to remember which one it was, which franchise it was, but I remember playing one on there that I enjoyed quite a bit, but you know, the crack of the bat. Oh yeah, sure. Peanuts and Cracker Jacks. Right. Smell of fresh cut grass.

I love all that stuff. And also, like, come on. It's a hunky sport. Yeah, there's some real beefcakes when it comes to baseball. The backyard baseball, by the way, I should note, Backyard Baseball 97, I didn't know this, got remastered and released this year October 10th of 2024. So very, very recently Backyard Baseball 97 has been pretty well received. I should check it out.

Yeah. LB, did you ever get any stickball games? Well, I had a great job working on a baseball game that was also a horror baseball game called Blazeball. That's right. We have not discussed Blazeball. Which was wonderful and I loved. yeah, unfortunately money you need that Money with it. Yeah, so it disappeared into the internet but In terms of like a baseball video game. The thing is that like I love to go to the baseball game I love the peanuts crackerjacks. I have to hear hear the back go pow get a hot dog get a hot dog once I was an adult drink a beer

The any baseball game I ever went to leave at the seventh inning to beat traffic You know and like that's the part if I try to play a baseball game. That's like. I don't like playing baseball Oh sure, that's not fun. I can't hit that so what I would like What I'm asking my follow game developers to do is please make a video game that encapsulates the experience of Like being at Dodger Stadium kind of drunk or doing what my uncle does which is the best which he goes to Sacramento minor league games Looks a joint with his friends on like a Thursday I'm like that's that's the experience that I would like.

Yeah, that sounds cool as hell. I love that in VR, you know? Or I could just go to Sacramento. Hmm, you don't wanna do that. No, I really don't wanna do that. A sim game where the game is, you're just attending a sporting event. Could actually be kind of fun. Could be soothing, I can see that.

Can we step back to talk about Blaseball a little bit? Because Blaseball was very cool. I mean, I guess it went offline in 2023, was it? Do you remember exactly when it? That couldn't have been that, yeah, it was June 2023. Oh my God. I mean, they had some ups and downs. They had like, basically it launched in 2020 and it exploded in

Popularity. I remember there was a huge pandemic. It was a huge thing. Yeah, it was a huge pandemic success and they weren't prepared for that at all. I'm like, you know, the community became like such an integral part of it. There was like voting on what the rules would be. You know for it was an in-browser free game You know for it was an in browser free game Where you voted on the rules of baseball it was you know a simulated thing players could die in the game You know as people voted like More and more weird things would happen you'd have there was a peanut God that would you know herring everyone with peanuts or put people into

shells It was yeah There was a peanut God that would you know her ring everyone with peanuts or put people into shells It was yeah, and then they took it down to kind of rework it and then it kind of Never really came together But I think the game band which is the company who made it is gonna work is working on Some other cool stuff that will hopefully come out in the future So I know that a lot of listeners quite a few listeners have in our discord have mentioned Blaseball and we were like big fans. People were really into it. So yeah, people are super into it.

Can you talk about, I mean, I don't know how much you can disclose, but can you talk at all about the process of your work on the game when you're writing for it? Yeah, sure. Well, I wasn't writing for it exactly. I was working with, so yeah, I worked really closely with the two main narrative people,

Stephen Bell and Joel Clark, and basically to figure out, okay, anytime anything happens in this live-simulated experience, what are we going to say? Let's break down every single story beat that can possibly happen, and what do you want this experience to be so I can help you break it down into how... So I have a spreadsheet. I still have the spreadsheet. No, I don't have the spreadsheet.

I deleted the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet's been deleted. I had a giant spreadsheet of every 303 p.m. this goes out, 304 p.m., 303 p.m. one, minute by minute, 30 second intervals of messages and story beats as they happen, which was insane. like minute by minute, like 30 second intervals of like messages and you know, story beats as they happen. Which was insane and really cool.

And yeah, I didn't get to do most of it, but I don't know, it was, they're really cool guys. They're really fun people. So we're also friends, we have a Discord server. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. Well, looking forward to whatever they develop next. Let's talk about wrestling a little bit,

because I know this is something that you also, this is very much your world. You and I have met IRL at indie wrestling shows in the past. Do you have, are there any wrestling games that have spoken to you on the video? Because like, I will say as a wrestling fan, my issue with wrestling video games is kind of what you're talking about

in terms of the baseball fan experience is that they are presented as like fighting games. They presented as combat sports. But like what I like about wrestling is like the, that it's a, the pageantry of it. You know what I mean? Exactly, like I like that it's a show, you know? And I don't know exactly how you simulate that.

That's a tough thing, but like, those are just my thoughts. Do you have any wrestling games you've ever responded to? No. I don't. I don't. Because, for the same reasons, right? Like I became an adult, I'm a late in life wrestling fan. I got into it as an adult because I like hunks.

I like sparkly stuff. I like big hair Yeah, we're three for three so far Lady does a bunch of flips on another lady. Yeah, that's really cool. Um, I think flips one of the coolest things you get Fucking awesome rock. I love a flip. Yeah. Did you have like a kid at your school who could do a backflip? Oh, yeah, and it was every time yeah, I know My guy's name was Maynard your guy's name was Maynard. Yeah, that's it. That's it. Maynard doesn't need a backflip He's Maynard. He's another thing about this guy. He was extremely cool. Yeah, he's so awesome He could just like do flips and shit. He's awesome. He's really cool. That seems kind of unfair. Yeah

Yeah, he didn't need all that you need all that gas my flips guy kind of sucked But he could do a backflip so everyone loved exactly exactly that's what you want Yeah, I have not ever seen a wrestling game that like gets to the experience and yet is very fighting based or it's like fighting based and like really, really, really like for perverts. And perverts like, I mean like fire pro. Yeah, sure, sure, right. Who are like, I'm gonna do every little thing,

I'm gonna adjust the moveset just right and like full respect if you're that kind of pervert. Nothing but love to you. But that's not, I'm a different kind of, you know, I'm like a dwarf fortress pervert, right? Yeah, sure. Like that's my like, do do do do do do thing.

Or you know, The Sims, like which we'll get to when we talk a little later. But yeah, like, I don't know. I would love, I would love a video game that gets to that, like that exciting theatrical weird, like anything can happen feeling. Right. Like I want the feeling, like, that exciting theatrical weird, like anything can happen feeling. Yes, right. Like I want the feeling of like,

what is it like to create the character Dalton Castle and like play that, you know what I mean? Like it's like, that's like to me is interesting as opposed to I'm just gonna go in and we're gonna play this like a fighting game with health bars and everything. And then when I get your health low enough, I can pin you. That to me is just like,

we're not really simulating what I enjoy about this. There should be like a For like cutting a promo. Yeah, that could be like a Quick time or like Rhythm based Like mini game where depending on your success with the with the quick time event or the rhythm event That's how good your promo is like you know you nail a couple of notes There's like a kind of a similar element in Final Fantasy 7 rebirth during the part where you're pretending to be one of the soldiers

Where you have to like do like color guard basically you get to like twirl a gun around and stuff. And it's an extremely long mini game. But like you can fail and then like, if you like drop your gun or whatever, like the rest of the group is kind of like not as enthused about it. And I think that mechanic would translate well to like cutting a promo or something like that. Yeah, for sure.

Or like the, I think it's Yakuza Zero with the phone sex mini game. Oh yeah. Like where you have to pick out the words. Like that would be great for a wrestling promo. Yeah, for sure or like the I think it's yakuza zero with the phone sex minigame. Oh, yeah Like where you have to pick out the words like that would be great for a wrestling promo That's really good. Yeah, the great perfect game Yakuza zero. Yeah, it's yeah I get the phone sex minigame I got really into and then that heightens to a point where you start to meet the people in Person like that recently right? They you're like you're like, am I conflating that with a different one? I think it does happen.

I think you're just thinking about your dreams. And then you call them and they like you enough where they want to meet you in person. And then you wake up and they're real. They're real, yeah, it turns out they come out of the game. They come out of the game, you can marry them. But yeah, that was like, God, that is a game that has, I'm just, I'm thinking through the myriad mini games,

there is wrestling in Yakuza Zero. There is, you can bet on like, is it just called cat fights? I think they're just called cat fights. Yeah, I think so. And then there's the, and then there's the, there's also, we're talking baseball, there's the batting cages you go to. Yeah, but then also some of the characters are so unsubtle in the way that some wrestling characters are too. Like what, I always forget the name of that guy

But there's this guy that walks around and like will kick your ass if he sees you. I think it's mr. Payback Maybe one of my favorite characters in anything. It's so funny. Or is it mr. Shakedown? It's something like it's something Mr.. Shakedown. Yeah, mr. Shakedown. It's so, that's so funny. God, I think we gotta play another one of those and talk about it on the show, because those games are so funny. Look, Like a Dragon, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is coming out soon, so we'll definitely have a reason to do it.

And that one doesn't seem like it's gonna be 200 hours long. I hope, I hope. Okay, I want to talk about Dwarf Fortress a little bit because this was a game I tried to get into, you know, and I fully get it. Like I'm messing around with this thing. Like I get it, but it's just indecipherable to me. Like what was, what is your level of like, like, like how much time have you put into Dwarf Fortress? Are you playing the, the, you know, the version with graphics that's on Steam? Like what, what, what, what got you hooked on that game? So I'm not allowed to play Dwarf Fortress anymore.

Okay, fair. If you want to know how many hours I've put into it. It's actually not that many because I saw it in myself like this is dangerous. Right. It's like me with Bellatro. I was just like I have to cut this off. Oh I figured out how to integrate Bellatro into my life. All right, good for you. So it's, you know, it's not like smoking to me.

Yeah, sure. I have it on my phone. Yep. And it is like smoking to me. Yep. And if it was like smoking, I'd be dead. Yeah. Dwarf Fortress, it just, so I am playing the,

I was playing the version with graphics on Steam. Yeah. I was kind of afraid to play it for a long time because I knew, I know myself, and I know what happens to me with certain kinds of like, like a Civ V or a, Sure. Even like a like Crusader Kings III. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

These certain, these like games that I just am like, this is, I run this world and I'm gonna run it perfectly. Even like a Crusader Kings 3. These games that I just am like, I run this world and I'm gonna run it perfectly and everything's gonna be beautiful and things are gonna happen that I'm gonna need to respond to and that's my top priority. Everything else, not as important. So when I was talking about the,

that's the pervert I am. That's the kind of pervert I am. When it comes to gameplay on that bone deep level where I'm like, let, like that's the pervert I am. That's the kind of pervert I am. When it comes to like gameplay on that like bone deep level where I'm like, let me get this guy over here and this guy over here and the water wheels going. Like I can't explain to you why. It just feels good to get all your little guys working together.

And Dwarf Fortress is also just a really, really good game because it keeps throwing new shit at you. Sure. So I had a perfect, perfect cavern set up. Everything was beautiful. And then literally a dragon came and killed everyone. And I was like, you know what? All my work, maybe like 40 like, maybe like 40 hours,

something like that, that I put into this was gone. And I'm like, I deserve that. I'm looking at it in my life, I'm like, I deserve that. Yeah. That would be like if in Animal Crossing, Tom Nook came out of his fucking store and shot your best friend in the town square. Yeah.

That's horrible. But also just torched everything he built. Right, right, right. But yeah, I deserve that. I was a Sims player for a really long time. So I love a management sim like that. Yeah, I get the same way with grand strategy games or 4X games.

I really get it. I get too into them. And then I just am like, I do need to cut myself off. I think just like it was the, just the lack of much onboarding and door fortress that led me to like not really latch onto it, but like the Civilization games, I mean, I play those way too much when I get in on them

until I basically forced myself to uninstall them. Okay, Zuckerberg. Here's the thing I like. He said that he's really good at that. He said he's good at civilization Yeah, he said that he's maybe the best ever at it. Well sounds like he'd be a good president. Oh, I Guess we'll never know. I guess we'll never know be nice. Nice for someone could fix things up And I think someone with a great strategic mind you know who's played it out in a bunch of simulations So they know what to do. It would be great. would be great if it was somebody who recently was given Riz

It would just be great That's a shame what are you gonna do the the the thing the thing I always liked is building like I always like like Cuz I know a lot of people like high-level Civ guys Civ players are really good at like warfare like that's the whole thing they go in the military side and like I yeah Whatever. I'll fight wars if I need to but I'm just always more interested in infrastructure players are really good at like warfare like that's the whole thing they go in the military side and like I yeah whatever I'll fight wars if I need to but I'm just always more interested in infrastructure I want to build like you know I want to build railroads And I want to build like build all the different you know granaries in my towns and shit

You know I want to build the libraries and the wonders of the world They have games that are just that yeah I know, but I also like that it's like you get to span all of history. You could do war if you wanted. I know, I like that, yeah. I do kind of like that threat as an element, like a thing I have to account for. Yeah, you would love Dwarf Fortress if you were on board. I'm sure, yeah.

Because there is a threat of war. So you have to, I don't know, I've had games where goblins keep invading over and over again. I'm like, I have to build up walls, I have to get defenses. And other times they never show up, I'm like, oh, okay, cool.

There's a trade, the elves come, and you can't trade them anything that's ever been alive, and they're really, really mean about it. If you accidentally click the wrong thing, because the interface is not super clear. Wait, the lore in this game is that elves, they don't want a piece of wood or something. Because of like- No, because that used

to be a beautiful tree. Oh, so if it used to be a part of organic matter. They're like they only want like rocks and sand I guess okay? Wow is there a I'll ask because I know that Nick wants to ask yeah But it's like afraid to ask they're like a romance element in these games to can you like date the people in the game? Well, you're God and so that would be unethical. Right. Tell that to Zeus. I mean, I have. OK.

He responded poorly, probably. You know what? We've like, we're into mediation sessions about it. At least he's interested in listening and learning. Yeah. I mean, it's been a long time. He's grown a lot since then. It's been a long time.

Yeah, I mean he's it's been a long time. You know he's grown a lot since I've been a long time They do romance they do like in relationships with each other okay I see and have dwarf children and I don't think Nick has to worry about being too addicted to this game all right, okay? Oh, I mean I I've got I've developed like a like feelings of attachment to the other rulers in Civ 5 Right where I'm like you're beautiful Doesn't benefit me in any way I just love seeing your face For some reason like these like those types of games I can't really do but I mean I guess just cuz it came out at a time when we all needed something like this I got super into Animal Crossing New Horizons and just like everybody just needed that that was like a warm

Like blanket for me at the time And I had I have this sheep and I talked about him on the show a lot Dom the sheep He wears a tie-dye shirt. He's like a muscle guy. He likes to work out and stuff. He's my maybe my favorite Little guy like I love I love Dom And he tried to leave my island a couple of times Just like cuz in the in the years of playing the game, and I would not let him I would say absolutely not like I actually need you here or else like we we have nothing like I have nothing if I don't Have Dom so I totally get becoming attached to just like one of these characters

But Dom he's still there. I'm glad yeah, I haven't checked on that island Gosh at this point. I'll say two years. Yeah, they're doing fine. I'm sure how was your who is it? What about who's your enemy on the island was it Quilson the guy you were you were hitting with a net I? had this duck This green duck who wanted to be a movie star He was such a little asshole. He was so pompous and that's just not the vibe I was called to a show I'm a sweeties he comes in he's like what you looking at toots, and I was like what's this guy I? Hated him, and I I built a wall around his house, so he couldn't go out

I hated him and I built a wall around his house so he couldn't go out. I was like, I hate this guy. I would dig holes around his house to try to trap him in a hole. You can't really, you can't do that. No. One of my favorite things I did was when Nick visited my island, I dug a hole in front of him

and told him I'm getting it. Nice, I respect that. I wish there was another, I feel like I won't be interested in animal crossing though until there's another one. Like I've done all I can with this one, but once they do another one, at cities, I would love a city one to do.

I thought for a second you meant there was another global pandemic, and I was like, that's true. That's really grim. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I'm just waiting for the next one. Yeah, I really loved the first one. I Really loved the first one I've had a great time with Animal Crossing because of it so we could speed that up

You know, I have to worry. We're not locking down again No one's missing a day work the next one I Was such I wasn't such a weird I mean everyone was just crazy Yeah, so one of my things that I did as I wasn't such a weird. I mean everyone was just crazy Yeah, so one of my things that I did as I built this like secret area in Like the hills of my you know they're like the little like cliffs yeah sure I'm island so whenever you would come I would be like let's show you're on my island It was all normal, and then I would take them up, and then there was a shrine to the Joker. All laughing. That's so good. I would change into clown clothes.

That's so good. With my little crown. I loved doing it. I did it to a lot of people. I just loved the experience of seeing other people's creativity because my island was just a mess. I picked stuff up. I wouldn't leave the trash or stuff,

the sticks and rocks lying around. I'd pick those up. But I didn't really have, I don't have a mind for design that way. That's the aspect of the building that I'm never great at is the aesthetics. And Ranch, I don't know if you ever got into animal crossing. I did in the pandemic like everyone else.

Yeah, well, did you ever visit our mutual friend, Alexis Quasarano's island? Because that was like- Yeah, her island was amazing. Was unbelievable. It was just absolutely pristine. And when I was invited there, I felt like I was like, there was almost like a queue of people

wanting to visit her island. So I remember I felt like I was like, there was almost like a queue of people wanting to visit her island. So I remember I felt like I was getting an invitation to Louvre or whatever. So I go there, and I was walking around, and I was like, this is just a marvel. This is absolutely amazing what you have crafted. It makes my island look like shit, you know, in comparison, but God bless you.

And then I'm also like, how did you do all, I'm just like, how did you do all this stuff? And it's like asking Michael Jordan how he dunks a basketball. I don't know. What do you want from me? I just do it and he balls you up and dunks you. I just do it. It's the thing I can do.

All right. I'll be able to have one more question for you and for everyone which is what are you playing? We could oh wow, okay? Okay, and the resident evil merchant. I guess isn't here this can you know it makes its Halloween So I best bet the resident evil merchant is all probably trick-or-treating It's all well I was gonna say booked up with other gigs because of being so spooky and scary, but yeah, possibly trick-or-treating as well It's like trying to book Chewbacca on May the 4th. You know, it's like he's got other stuff going on Wookie Halloween, right?

It's in May and life day is in October things are all turned around All right, I'll, what are you playing? Well, I thought it would be, I knew I was going to come on here and talk to you about video games. I'm like, I didn't want to just say Bellatro because that's, that's like, what are you, what are you doing? Smoking.

Drinking water, breathing. I'm playing a lot of Bellatro. But I also did pick up Vampire Survivors. Oh, hell yeah. Because I was like, I'm talking about vampire games. I can't just talk about The Sims, which I'm gonna end up doing. I should pick up this game that has vampire

and survivor in the title, because I made a video game about a vampire reality show that we could have called Vampire Survivor if that name wasn't fucking taken by a game that has no vampires. And I guess you do survive. It's, and then I did have to delete it. Because it is the, like, you know that meme

of the monkey strapped to the chair that pressed the button to get the juice? For me, that's that game, even more than Bellatro. That game is juice. It's apple juice. It's so, yes, that aspect of it is so fun. Just like, I just, God, just the, just running around. It's a game where you just run around and shoot things.

Run around. That's all you need. And you, here's the thing, you shoot stuff but you don't really do it. No, you're not really doing it all that much. You're kind of really, you're really just moving around pretty much. It's a relatively passive experience, but then you're also like getting so much loot,

which is part of it too, and you're constantly incrementing numbers Which I love yeah, it's it's a it's an incredible design I love you have a favorite did you in your time with it? Did you have like a favorite character that you spent time with or were you just like with like the starter guy knife hunk? I like oh, yeah, sure is good If I close my eyes still I see the jewels going in and the little crosses Yeah, they played so much of it that yeah like the when you know when you close my eyes still I see the jewels going in and the little crosses Yeah, they played so much of it that yeah, like the when you know when you close your eyes you see

Yeah, it's so fun. It's such a satisfying going in and getting the coffins and finding the maps so you can look around. And when there's just get to be so many guys and you have your shields around you and you're like, ha ha ha ha. Yeah. Infinite guys, you can do nothing to me.

I would always try to build around garlic. garlic I think is really cool because it's like it's a barrier that keeps people like or you know creatures like away They get hurt like around you kind of you're not really doing anything That was always really fun to me, but also we did an episode about this I had this game a couple like you know last year or whatever and God was it two years ago? I don't remember. Who knows?

I think it did come out in 2022, actually. Okay. Yeah, so it might have, but we might have just gotten around to it last year. The sounds in that game are so, I'm touching my brain. Yeah. I don't know what it is,

but it's like that, just the sounds alone are so good Yeah, they make you feel so good when you're playing the game. No, it's awesome. It's awesome audio video Visual feedback and like you know that's part of why it works so yeah, I like the I Don't know what the meta is now, and I don't think that the things have been You know I don't know if updates updates have nerfed certain things, but I remember the King Bible when I was playing it a lot. That was, King Bible is really powerful. And then also I like the Santa water, partly just because it's called Santa water.

Like everything's just kind of named a little off, which is part of its charm. I recently booted it up and forgot about Santa water and saw it and laughed. Fun. Hey, I'll pivot from Vampire Survivors. They're a very Vampire Survivors-like game, but a little bit more active that have been put in a lot of time into Diablo IV, Vessel of Hatred, the DLC. So Diablo games kind of aren't ever really

in their final form until that big expansion hits. I mean, going back to Diablo II, that was the case. And this is one where they've really figured it out at this point. They've nailed the Diablo gameplay loop. It's pure fun. I actually put so many hours into it that I was getting like a carpal tunnel with my thumb,

and I had to remap the controls. This worked for me. I'm not sure what's working for other people, but basically you have a basic skill that you're pretty much spamming constantly the whole time. Kind of like what your auto shooting is in Vampire Survivors, the equivalent of that, whatever your basic skill that doesn't consume any of your mana or mana equivalent resource.

So I map that from by default it's like it's an A or where the X button is on a PlayStation controller. I map that to the right trigger just so I could just be holding it down with my finger instead of my thumb. And that in and of itself did a lot to relieve any sort of chronic pain I was getting from playing the shit out of this thing.

The new class they added, the Spiritborn, is a triumph. It is so fun. It is just an animal-alistic guy with an animal buddy. Animal you can summon for supers, you know you could do centipede, you can do eagle, I'm trying to remember what else there is. There's a few different ones but I want full gorilla, I want all gorilla. Just like I saw the option for a gorilla and you know I just that I have the opportunity to be to to to go ape I'm just gonna do it right?

Well as you famously have said time And time again man has always been fascinated by man has always been fascinated by apes Go back to the beginnings of entertainment. We want we are locked in With our with our primate relative primate relatives So like you know having a gorilla that can come in, first off, the way that the character plays, the way the character's built, it's super duper tanky, which I really like.

You just get to go in there and just like fucking punch and whack things, and you can absorb a lot of damage, you have a barrier that's going up all the time. And then when you get to summon your gorilla, he comes in and he just pounds the shit out of stuff. He basically does some DK Smash Brothers slaps on the ground pounds, and it's really, really super satisfying.

The story which was a highlight of the Diablo 4 base game again very very compelling and I really feel like I could have already finished the expansion campaign with the amount of time that I put into this if the seasonal content wasn't so good at encouraging you to dick around you know these games are where there's just like there's so many things on The map and then I'm are I'm in a new area and I'm encouraging you to dick around, you know, these games are where there's just like there's so many things on the map and then I'm in a new area and I'm like, oh, I've got four different NPCs asking me to do things. Like, all right, I'll do all this shit.

So I am getting distracted in a very fun way, but I'm really enjoying it. I think it's just a really well-done expansion and much like Shadow of the Urch tree, it's just like they clearly are hyper-conscious of what was working about the base game and how to heighten and expand it. So yeah, really, really enjoying Festival of Hatred. Matt, what are you playing? In my restless dreams, I see that town, Silent Hill. You promised me you'd take me there again someday, but you never did.

Well, I'm all alone there now in our special place waiting for you Waiting for you to come see me, but you never do and so I wait wrapped in my cocoon of pain and loneliness This is actually longer than I thought it was good for it. I'm done reading it I I'm playing I'm playing Silent Hill 2 the remake and We did the original on the show. My thoughts then were, this is the most scared I've ever been in my life. And now I'm playing it on modern hardware, new coat of paint, full remake, new performances. Yeah.

This is the Bloober Team remake, right? Nobody made me do this. I had to play it. Before, because we did it for the show. No one's making me do this. I'm doing this to myself. And I'm having a, am I having fun? No.

Do I think it's good? Yes. It I was describing. Let me know if you think this is true, Nick. Okay. Somebody, a friend of mine had asked me if he should get it. Because he was kind of iffy on, like some, he's like iffy on some horror games but likes some other ones. He likes Dead Space, doesn't like Resident Evil.

Yeah. I said Resident Evil 4 for me is like, what if a scary video game was very fun? It was like a fun video game. Silent Hill 2 on a similar scale is what if a video game made you wish you were dead? Because it's so brutal. It's a terrifying experience. It's so terrifying. And upsetting.

It's upsetting and nasty and mean and it just feels bad. Like it just looks horrible. like it just like it looks horrible Not graphically it looks great But like it's just nasty looking it's like all like brown and gray and stuff and it kind of just you know There's nothing nice to look at in Silent Hill But I'm enjoying it. I'm very scared. This is how I'm playing it take a couple steps. Yeah pop that map open scared this is how I'm playing it take a couple steps yeah pop that map open close the map take a couple more steps hey you know what let's go check out that map again okay I am going the right way close the map take a couple more steps

hot dang it I think I forgot where I'm going I better look at this map one more time you know what oh I better look at my key items I'm just constantly opening menus cuz I'm so scared that something is gonna jump out at me And you know there's this part where you can see pyramid head Before you like officially meet pyramid head, and I saw him and I almost turned the fucking game off. I hate him He's so he's so scary. He's so scary I am playing it. I am Intending to finish it Star Wars Outlaws keeps getting Ejected

Astrobot comes out after Star Wars Outlaws. I ejected it so I put it back in Silent Hill 2 comes out I have to take it out put it in Gonna be tough to get back to you honestly, but I am enjoying the bad time, as it were. Because it is, I will say, a very faithful remake in that I honestly think they only remade it so it's not a slog to play on modern hardware. Because it doesn't, in my mind, I played it like two years ago

Probably it doesn't feel that different really like it controls a little different because it's now third person like more of a third person over-the-shoulder perspective Whereas the original is not but beyond that it kind of feels like exactly the same. We're taking shitty swings at You know creepers and in mannequins with a wooden plank and yeah And like that kind of stuff like doesn't feel fun, but like once you get a gun you're like okay I can at least blast them from a little bit away but there is still a scarcity of resources and stuff like that, but I

Will see it to the end well That's also like kind of that that survival horror era of like your character feeling kind of powerless, right? And like it's feeling kind of clon... But like also it's like, this is the thing that's so tough with these kinds of remasters. It's like once you change the timing of the animation, then it's just like you're changing the balance

of the gameplay. There's like this, like so many things start to just, start to domino out of control. Like if if you start changing tweaking one thing too much But yeah if they if they made James the way they made Leon right now It's a that's a different feels like a different that's a completely different video game You do need to be playing somebody who is afraid to like you need your your playthrough of the game should be James Being like I'm actually too scared to keep walking You better look at my map

But that's that's what I'm playing. I and I think it's great that they did it I think it's like of the things that get remastered and remade. I think this was a worthy Candidate for for doing that. Yeah, I think people it seems to have been well received critically I haven't played it myself But but you know it seems like People are happy with the the remaster feel like it did the original justice and I know there was some skepticism going in just because It's such a totemic game, but yeah, it's good to hear they did a good job, right ranch of you You made any progress with re4 you bounced off of that at all. I have I think I'm pretty close to the end now

I'm on chapter 13 oh, okay, and I think there there's 16 chapters. Yeah. I've been so obsessed. I love this game so much and I'm gonna be silent. That's awesome. I love it. That's an all-timer. I will say I watched someone play Silent Hill on Twitch and then from the back he looks just like Leon. Yeah, and then he turns around and I'm like No, he's a sad dork what do you want I will say playing it as a newly married person yeah Playing this wife guy game kind of hits a little different. Yeah, no I get it He's like, where's my wife? I'm like, yeah That's what I want to know where'd she go? That's Lee. That's forefront of my mind most times. Where's my wife?

All right, let's talk about vampire games, this is a pretty expansive genre There's like I was just going through all the games that classify as vampire games or that have vampire elements. And it's just, it just, there's just a lot of them. But Albie, I kind of want to start with you because, you know, as you're developing a vampire game, you're developing a game where Dracula's are such a, such a core part of it. Like, were you drawing on any specific source game or otherwise, or was this kind of like a general sort of a fascination with the vampiric?

So what happened with fledgling manner is? In I think late May my friend Merrick K messaged me And said hey, do you want to make a visual novel? It's about vampires on a reality show. I said yeah, I do So, I mean, we had, I've been like a vampire person for a really long time, like many sexually confused children born in the 80s. Sure.

I was a big Anne Rice kid. Okay. Like big time, gender, like kind of gay, confused. We don't have the words to say what this is yet, great. So, I mean, like a lot of my vampire stuff is like like from that I watched so much Buffy when I was a kid Right. I'm a big horror person. I've watched a lot of like the hammer flicks like Um, I consider Dracula my personal nemesis And like I would love to kill Dracula cuz I think he sucks

It's like really just you know know, problematic, not cool. Not okay. I was doing all that slick back hair. My number one thing issue with him. Really? He ate babies. It's kind of second to his crazy hair, I think. I'm not wild about him saying bleh all the time.

Knock that off. Okay, so we're talking, you know, saying bleh all the time. Knock that off. Okay. So we're talking, you know, I want to talk specifics, but generally, like we're talking vampire games. What do y'all want in a vampire game? Cause for me, just to start things off. If I'm- I can tell you what I want.

Very good. If I'm playing a, if I'm being a Dracula, I want to be able to change forms. And this is the thing that Castlevania Sim of the Night does so well. But I want to be able to change into a Dracula, I want to be able to change forms. And this is a thing that Castlevania Sim of the Night does so well. But I want to be able to change into a bat, I want to be able to change into a mist, I want to be able to change into a wolf or whatever the fuck. I just want to be able to like- like- because that to me is part of what's- what's cool about being a Dracula. If I'm fighting a Dracula, I want the classic arsenal of weapons.

Like- like, again, you talked about the garlic in- in Vampire Survivors. That's fun because it's like, yes, I know that. That makes sense, I can wrap my head around that. Castlevania has holy water, which obviously Vampire Survivors follows, but I love stuff like that. I love being able to just sort of be like, okay, I actually feel like I'm Van Helsing. I actually feel like what a vampire,

or like the vampire killers in Salem's Lot. I actually feel like I'm someone who could take on one of these guys. Well, Matt, what about you? What do you want in a vampire game? Yeah, like the ability to, I guess just a different mode of traversal is like pretty cool to fly around is pretty sick. I don't know, maybe if you walk in front of a mirror or something, there's nothing there.

Oh, that's fun. I don't know. I guess I haven't played that many Vampire games honestly like I've dabbled in like the first area of a lot of Castlevania games because I know that like once I sink you mean pardon the pun I almost don't even want to say no, please say yeah I think you ever we're all waiting for you to say it. I'd love to sink my teeth into Symphony of the night. I Didn't even it was here's the thing. I would have said that anyway, but I

Were talking about vampires. It sounds like sounds like I had it prepared I'm just talking. Yeah, you're just riffing. I'm just riffing It happens trust me. I just the amount of times I had to not say something sucked running a vampire game Oh, yeah Cuz I'm from here and from Southern California. I'm saying things sucks inside was like, you know, yeah Hey, what is that? Hi? Okay. I'm so cow. We're all yeah, we're all we're all so cow. We're all from so cow Pretty cool. Look at that. Isn't that scary listeners? Are you scared? You're listening to a bunch of coastal elites?

He's gonna get a burrito with french fries in it actually fuck no sorry San Diego Back to it so I I I know that once I play enough of Symphony of the night That's gonna be like a game for me because I like that genre of yeah The Metroidvania yes, I've played a lot of the Metroids less of the Vanias but gosh, I use you mentioned Van Helsing and this did give me a memory that I I'm a big licensed video games defender I played the The Van Helsing movie video game.

Oh man, I don't even remember that. Wow, when was that? This was, exactly what, that movie came out in 2002, 2003 or something? The game came out in 2004. Okay, so yeah, I rented that from Hollywood Video. Yes. And I think maybe rented it more than once. Amazing! Fantastic! It looks like it was a Devil May Cry clone, so it might have played pretty good actually. I think maybe rented it more than once It looks like it was a devil may cry clone so it might have played pretty I remember it being pretty cool

And as somebody who hadn't realized that Movies could not be that good yet. I saw the movie was like this is Like any other movie ever seen before yeah You know hadn't had developed taste. Yeah yet LB as a vampire Enthusiasted is anything you look for in a vampire game um so the thing is that like I don't play metroidvanias I don't like any kind of platforming at all sure so what I usually look for in any kind of vampire media It's just like is this an interesting take on this topic period Which is so boring it's not a fun thing to say but it is it is the truth look for in any kind of vampire media is just like, is this an interesting take on this topic? Period.

Which is so boring. It's not a fun thing to say, but it is the truth. Because it's like, you know, especially when you're like an Anne Rice child, like, I guess I was not a fun kid. I was not a fun kid. I'm much more fun now than I was as a kid. So if kid me is like, let's think about mortality. Let's think about what it would mean to not ever tie and what that was

But that would make you think about yourself and about your experience in the world like that's me at nine You can't you can't ever totally grow out of that so Actually when I think about stuff like that like something like immortality. I think dealt with those things really well Not a vampire game at all, but like, definitely a game about those concepts, right? Yeah, I played Immortality. This was the same developer as Hersh, no, not,

was it Hersh's story? Not Hersh's story, Hersh's story. Yeah, Hersh's story. And this was the FMV game that had a bunch of footage from three different horror movies that were shot, and then, but over time time all with the same actor and Then you were basically like kind of divining what happened to this person Through you know examining this these both the footage from the films and then like also the all the dailies the raw footage the

Outtakes and so forth. They're really really interesting way to present the game. Yeah, yeah So cool. So interesting. Yeah as somebody who does video editing, like, oh, great, a UI. I know how to use all these controls. Like, I know this. No, that was the same thing, because I used to be a video editor and like, yeah, that was the, just having an NLE that I'm like, like, that's the game interface. It was really interesting to mess around with. Yeah, that game was really, that game was really cool. Do you ever like, like, okay, let's talk about the Sims a little bit because That's a thing like I'm just looking through and I played a couple of the Sims, but I never got super into it

I understand the appeal but it was like never like a game I got super obsessed with there is a lot of vampire content in the Sims as they continue There are so much vampires and the best thing about vampires in The Sims, so you get your base game, The Sims. And like any Diablo game, it doesn't totally become the game until you got, it's not one big expansion, but it's like a few expansions in, a few patches in, and then you're like, okay, here's the game. And that process often starts with whatever the nightlife pack is. And where you can go to the club.

But also there's vampires. And like, so it starts in Sims 2, and then Sims 3 and Sims 4. Vampires come with the nightlife pack and not with any of the supernatural packs, which. Weird. I just love that though. I love that sensibility of like, so what do we know about night like you go out you go to the club you drink you flirt you dance

So there's vampires there Like there's a city there's high rises. They drink your blood. Oh, we can't do that because the ESRB they drink your plasma You get really tired. You feel terrible afterwards You wear mini dresses and like shiny suits The vampires can kind of float around like why is this in there with the thick stuff? that's like a Sims developer was secretly a vampire and I was like this is what I do I go out and you know I see other vampires and one thing I love working about maxis is they're so flexible about hours.

Yeah. Yeah. Do you, okay, so there's vampires in these games. Like, is it the level of, is it like a sky rim where you can like become vampiric, you can become vampiric, you can like have, and then you just like have to sleep in a coffin, you can't go out during the day, that sort of,

like you have to live with that? What's it like? Wow. So one of my favorite things to do in the Sims are these challenges that, like, players come up with, right? And one of them is the 100 baby challenge. Which is, basically, there's all these rules. Yeah.

But the goal is you start with, like, a Sim, and then that Sim needs to spawn, you know, generations of people who eventually accumulate 100 babies. Got it. And yeah, it will keep a spreadsheet to keep track of that. spawn it, you know generations of people who eventually accumulate a hundred babies Yeah, it will keep a spreadsheet to keep track of that sometimes I'll come up with like a naming convention and try to Do the characters to make that make sense because I'm crazy and I love a management sim But it's not one individual who is going to be the parent of 100 children

It is it is more than 100 100 children are sourced from this starting point Yeah, and then the next generation is the final kid they have before they age up But some you each one needs to have a different parent like a different donor parent It's a second parent usually like yeah So you need to go out and find so a lot of times you will have vampire kids and like sometimes you I don't think You know if you can actually do the challenge with a vampire but like It's the best though is when you have a baby, and you're like that baby looks a little weird What's up with that? What's with all those eyebrows? Yeah, he's great

You can't quit tell like with a newborn Yeah, but you can Is that a vampire? Is that a vampire? And then you drop and you're like, fucking vampire. Got it. Little teeth. Yeah, but you can play as a vampire. They do like, if you move your Sim into certain parts of the world, I was doing a thing where I was invested, I was checking out, they had like a cottage core pack for Sims 4.

And I did that in the vampire town. And my Sim that I made of myself, which I never do, but I did for this, got attacked by a vampire named Vlad, so cliche. So corny. So I made it my mission to destroy his life. And became best friends with another vampire named Lilith, also pretty corny, but you know what? She was nice.

She had those kind of death positive Betty Page bangs. We became best friends with another vampire named Lilith, also pretty corny, but you know what, she was nice. She had those kind of death positive Betty Page bangs. And she was great, and so I got her to seduce Vlad, and then I moved in with them, Musa moved in with them, and I just locked him up in a basement full of clown, again, kind of the Joker thing again. Like, come and check clown paintings, and made his of the Joker thing again. Yeah, sure. Like a bunch of clown paintings and made his house cottage core.

And it was really satisfying. He's just there seething, you've ruined my aesthetic. Yeah. So I guess what I want out of a vampire game is to torture a vampire, ruin his aesthetic, destroy his life. Yeah.

They are evil, we gotta remember. Because in a lot of video games games even video games that aren't necessarily Supernatural there will be supernatural stuff in it like in even like you know in like Call of Duty's there's zombies in the Red Dead Redemption there was the zombie mode undead nightmare. Yeah, sure so zombies are always fodder for video games because that's easy people understand the rules of that are and it's just a vessel for being able to

Like destroy as many things as possible I think a cool thing to do would be to do that exact same thing But vampires instead because vampires would pose to me a larger threat because they can be strong I think whereas zombies are like kind of just like they mean they can get you still if you get cornered they but like I feel like vampires are like actually pretty tough are you sure you get a good idea to say this on a podcast where a lot of people are hearing you and now the vampires listening no and this is you're vulnerable to them and now the

zombie the zombie listeners think, no, you think they're a joke? They know. No. No. No. No. Make no mistake, everyone who knows

that they can kick my ass knows. I just think it'd be, cause like, I don't know, like we just played, or you know, Helldivers had the mode where there there's like you go to these planets and there's these like a bunch of bugs everywhere Yeah, and to me. That's the whole game. You could just you could ride off on that game and be like this was it This is a complete experience There's another part of the game. That's different planets with terminators basically yeah Yeah, and they're so much tougher than the bugs there's like because they can shoot back and like

Another just they're just stronger. So I don't know like I'm just thinking just I thought where you were going was we're gonna have Another another species of vampires that we're gonna face in hell divers. No, I was saying I mean give me vampires in hell Yeah, that's sort of like a man kind of yeah This is such an enriching show. I've gotten, vampires are bugging man, and I've gotten the ape, the man's fascination with apes thing, which I thought about for several minutes after you said it. Oh yeah. It's kind of a bomb, huh?

It's been a genre that has extended through the entire history of film. It's like we're shooting apes like immediately We want to film these things we wanted to be and then there's this like giant ape is like always Baffo box office anytime. There's a big ape movie. It's just like yeah I'm gonna go see that thing go back further fucking journey to the west sure Yeah, yeah, there you go medieval Chinese novel monkey. They love that guy. You know what cuz he rules Yeah, monkeys are really cool. I love a monkey. Yeah Sorry

Also video games like one of the early like first major video games this fucking Donkey Kong. It's true a monkey game. Yeah What's going on here? Okay? Sorry? Get played monkey business coming soon This is fucking Donkey Kong. It's true. It's a monkey game. Yeah. What's going on here? Okay, sorry, I'm so sorry. We've been doing this a whole month probably about monkey stuff. Get played monkey business coming soon. Oh, that's a really good name. That is good. Hey.

Okay, so the Castlevania franchise, that was like my entry point to games with vampires. It's known as Dracula in Japan. They just call it Dracula, not Castlevania. That fucking rocks. Yeah, it is cool. Anyway, the Castlevania III, this was for me the one where like, because they introduce a playable vampire character or half human, half vampire hybrid depending on the canon

Alucard, Dracula's son, who is the main character in Symphony of the Night. And Alucard is just like my, like that, he's like my favorite. I think he's just so cool. He's so suave, but also his moveset is really like super powerful. And he plays so differently than like the Belmonts with their you know their whips and their more conventional arsenals. I don't know, I love Alucard. That's what I think of with the yeah because it's Dracula backwards. That's awesome.

It's really good. It's Dracula. Dracula uses that name to like sign paperwork in the novel. Dracula by Bristoker. Which is such a really uncreative thing to name your son. You already used it. I've seen it, yeah. So I wonder, what was the vampire character from Metal Gear Solid 2? That's what I was going to bring up is Vamp. Vamp is the other guy. They just got a Dracula in there.

And it's just like whatever, sure why not. There are sort of like supernatural stuff going on, but it's like not, it's weirdly not the main thing. Like, cause like in the third one, there's like the guy that's like can summon bees. Yeah, sure. The pain. Yeah.

No, I mean like, they have stuff that's like fantastical, but like there's, it's almost like a different level of like, hey, this is a character with a lightning gun versus. This is like a sister straight-up Dracula Yeah, that is that is quite a change, but I guess my point is it's so funny how? How little of a deal like the crazy things are in those games? Oh, they just take it all in stride cuz like they want you to be like actually the main thing in these is the the political messaging and the, I don't know, thinking about what memes are and propaganda and things like that.

Actually, this Dracula guy, it's not even a big deal at all. Yeah, he's just like, yeah, whatever. Who actually cares about police. Right. It's a mini boss. Just move on with your life. I mean, I've never been that far deep into the military industrial complex in my real life. So maybe after the other stuff you've seen that's nothing

Actually, who could say if you've seen what yeah, maybe snakes like, you know, I've seen a lot this not that big Not that who cares actually the military is just like you AP's are real and so like alright, I guess good Yeah, I guess I did forget about that It's real everyone just so you know, yeah Horrors upon horrors ever since they said that. It's like, I guess I forgot. The other thing I want to talk about is, and we've talked about Vampire Survivors, but this is a game that Matt, that we played for the podcast back in the day.

And Albie, I'm wondering if you have any, you know, this was a thing you ever, you were messed around with having knowledge of, but the very controversial Sega CD game Night Trap. This was another FMV game. And I'd forgotten that it's vampires are the enemies in this. But it's basically a bunch of girls in a sleepover in semi-saucy by 16-bit standard scenarios, and they are progressively being murdered by a bunch of vampires. And then it's your job as basically the person manning the security cameras to try to take them out with the traps that are in the house.

This game was like, that was like a big point of controversy on the 90s. That was like one of those games that it was Mortal and and Night Trap had they had Senate hearings about. Oh yeah so embarrassing. Yeah. Like it's I would say it's worth checking out. You can play it you play it on modern hardware. They just they the anniversary edition I think you can just get on Switch so. It's it's it's an interesting just like piece of media, I think. It's not good by any means. This looks amazing.

Also maybe you could probably just watch a YouTube playthrough and totally get exactly, because the gameplay is pretty minimal. It's really just switching cameras and toggling things on and off. This looks incredible. The art on it is amazing. Are the vampires wearing ninja outfits? They're sort of ninjas.

The character design is all over the place. Fantastic. Because I remember them just being killers. And I just remember them being like, oh, they're just like psychos. And I was like, no, they're actually like Dracula's. They're not just psychos, they're Dracula's. 1992 interactive movie. No, I was not playing that in 92,

because that would have been crazy, because I was really young. And yeah, I am not, that's, you played that for this show? Yeah, we did. I mean, this is a, like we've, it's just like one of those like games that I think just has such a long tail of fandom because of how like distinct and weird it is

and also kind of like how infamous, because like, you know, Joe Lieberman, Senator Joe Lieberman was like, like kind of like the point man in terms of saying that like Night Trap was like evil and like we should ban games like this or We need to like like have content labeling systems the ESRB exists because Joe Lieberman Wagged his finger at night trap and Mortal Kombat hard enough

So it's just it's it's it kind of has it's kind of is a pretty significant game that yes has vampires as an element I know that This is I don't know if these are out now or when when they're coming out but this was announced a couple weeks ago they're remastering the legacy of Kane oh yeah to legacy of Kane games and those are big vampires so blood omen legacy of Kane this was a this was a PS one kind of Zelda like and then the the sequel legacy Kain Soul Reaver and then they made a sequel to that I think it was called Soul Reaver 2.

Those games were more like 3D action adventure games but those were cool games and I forget but someone who worked on Legacy of Kain, one of the directors ended up working on a bunch of other games, we've talked about them before. I'll look them up real quick. But those were cool games, and they were cool settings. LB, I'm trying to, like I just was going down the list, and I was trying to think of other Dracula games, but like, you know, I don't know if you ever were

someone who was into Vampire the Masquerade. I know that had like a lot of like RPG fans, or even something like Blood Reign. Were there other vampire games that you ever gravitated towards? So I was not a gamer really as a kid. I came to it again wrestling as an adult because again, it wasn't fun as a kid.

Didn't like fun. It wasn't a fan. I actually, Merritt did like DM of Empire of the Masquerade game that I played. Oh, that's cool. Which was really fun. Yeah, that's awesome. Which was really, really fun.

And actually like one of the characters in one of the side characters in our game is my repurposed character from that play. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, he's a Christian influencer who was turned by accident in Times Square when he was going to see Wicked in New York before seminary. Wow.

Yeah. He's a candle YouTuber. I love him. I love him so much. Yeah, that's awesome. So yeah. But yeah, that's, it's more of my experiences like tabletop stuff. yeah, like Monster Hearts

I loved I played a do you know are you familiar with monster? No, no It's a power by the apocalypse tabletop RPG and It's kind of like it's set in You're like it's like a teen supernatural thing. So it's inspired by all the buffies and the so-ons and so-forths. But yeah, it's really cool. And you could play as a ghoul or a Frankenstein

or maybe not a Frankenstein, but like a wolfman. Look at all the monster mascots. Right, yeah. Yeah, a witch. The serial mascot. Yeah. But yeah, it's really cool and fun. And I recommend checking it out.

I worked with several developers on the PC RPG, Vampire the Masquerade, and that seemed like from, you know, that was a game that was just like so sprawling in scope and like it was kind of buggy on release, but I think it's been really, really well regarded by the fandom and there's a sequel in development but

Yeah, I mean I think I feel like that's like one that has like a lot of like it's certainly a cult fandom Yeah, blood rain. I don't feel like anyone ever actually liked blood rain, but I remember it was like it was a It was one of those games. There was like a B-tier game franchise They decided to make into a movie for some reason starting Christina Loken from Terminator 3 Yeah, I think that had to have been a reaction to The Resident Evil movie though right? Oh sure yeah that makes sense yeah We got to get one in the game We got to get one of these in the can now and then they just make that because there's like

Not thinking about whether it's good or not. Do you know the detail of blood rain? This is like maybe the dumbest gaming ever got, but Blood Reign, the title character Reign, appeared in a Playboy pictorial titled Gaming Grows Up. I do know that for some reason. And I don't know if it's because you told me about it before. What year was this? I mean, this must have been like 2002 or something.

Yeah, that sounds like such Bush America. Bush is America. Yeah, that's what I was saying. Yeah, yeah. Like the other side. Okay. Yeah, there was the war on terror and just this kind of ambient sleaze everywhere.

Right, yes. And a lot of gaming grows up. I mean, just like the, I don't know, it's like every horny advertisement for like a console or a game like from print media, it's, I mean, if there was, I guess that you could still have a museum if it's like an Instagram thing, right? Yeah.

I want to do a museum of those. Yeah. I would go. It was also the era of like the, you know, the horny like Carl's Jr. Hardee's like burger ad. Those are just like, this is like, this is disgusting. I don't want like, like, what are you doing here? You know the horny like Carl's Jr. Hardee's like like burger ad those like this is like this is disgusting I don't like like what are you doing here? You know I gotta get one of those A girl in the bikini is eating a burger. I'm hungry

But I just like I don't like that conflating that like this big disgusting meal That's gonna like give me a tummy ache and then like like sexuality I don't want those things anywhere near each other. And also, I mean, this is for your other podcast, but all the crazy burgers at Carl's Jr., they're too much. Yeah. They're way too much. You get far enough with a Western bacon cheeseburger.

That's about as crazy as I'll go at Carl's. They were heightening things a little bit. They've reigned things out a little bit, but they were out of control for a period. Again, I think that was a Bush's America thing. Yeah. The Darkstalkers is another one I was thinking of. Oh, yeah, people like those.

Yeah, these are kind of like, you know, again, like a lesser regarded, a Capcom, rather, fighting franchise. But they had some really cool character designs. I mean, that's part of what I like about Darkstalkers more than anything is just like looking at the characters. Yeah, I just saw that there's a game that is basically kind of what I was describing earlier

called Redfall, and it's like, it's Arkane Studios made it, and it's like a first person arcane studios made it and it's like a First person sort of like shoot vampires type thing not well received though But it's like doesn't mean it should be somebody can't try again. Yeah, and they could even try again I just I would like to see it be good and also like sometimes people are wrong So there's people are wrong or sometimes everyone's right, but like they don't know you and what you want. I might like it You might like it. I but like they don't know you and what you want. I might like it you might like it I apologize. I don't know We're just talking here Yeah, I don't know. I do like fun now

But I do more like making working really hard so that other people can have fun And then I will go listen to like a podcast about war crimes or something into a podcast about war crimes or something. But while I play Bellatro, to balance out the dopamine. Gotta have blowback going while you're playing. Really weird, this last season did not work with Bellatro actually. Yeah, also didn't work with,

I had to do a drive cycle for my car where you can't touch the brakes, but you're on the freeway Which is really scary, and I couldn't turn off blowback Yeah Good season that yeah, it's it's impressive stuff The this is this is just a thing just to see this table I mean you can see some of it's kind of horny, and that's part of the fun But the character the character designs and dark stalkers are rad that is really cool right look at the fucking wolf man It's looking great. I kind of do think I mean I'm not to keep coming back to this zombies are done

We're done. I'm done with zombies. I get me a wolf man get me a vampire, get me a damn sheep goat. Yeah, it feels like we've kind of exhausted every riff on zombies at this point. We had, like, it's kind of like we've, you know, it's kind of run out of steam a little bit. It's kind of like we had that era where everyone, where Western was just a genre. We have this era where, like, you know,

zombie is just a genre, and now it's time to move on. Yeah, I think vampires are sexy and sad, which isn't the best replacement for zombies. So I think Wolfman might be the like, because they're strong. Yeah, I'd love to see more Wolfman. They're tough, they're not so sad, because being Wolfman's pretty fun.

Yeah. It's pretty cool. They can play basketball sometimes. It makes them better. Well, you can also be like, there's the Wolfman thing of like, I'm not like, am I a Wolfman? Like, that's one way to play it It's like I don't I don't know exactly what happens. Yeah

What happened to my shirt? Yeah, exactly Shredded now, dude Spooky creatures become I feel like wolfman not so bad. What about mummies? We got mummy games Exactly good too. Yeah, I don't know what to do with mummies exactly. I think mummies are extremely good too. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. There's a great vampire hide in Coffee Talk, which we messed around with.

But there's also like, you know, there's also a wolf man in Coffee Talk. There's a bunch of just different like cryptids and fantastical creatures that populate this fictional future coffee shop Monster mash kind of monster mash. Yeah. Yeah, it all comes back to the monster mash. It's the sacred text All the stories are made I Have a birthday dinner for myself in July I went to a birthday dinner for myself in July. Happy birthday.

Thank you. Well, maybe this is the second half to that experience, because I was at Alltime, which is a nice restaurant. Oh, yeah. Pretty near here. For my birthday, beautiful, warm summer nights. Some people are still shooting off fireworks. And they're playing the Monster Mash at this restaurant. Wow.

In July. In July. But maybe that's because I was going to be wished a happy birthday on this Halloween. Wow. Oh, it could be. Wow. So we've come full circle. Yeah.

The prophecy's fulfilled. Life is a herald. Man, ugh. Life is a herald, I'll tell you that. Bakhtai, The Sun Is In Your Hand, another game we talked about on the podcast. This was the Kojima game that was, you know, it's the, so this actually had a cart, a Game Boy cart, it was Game Boy Advance, right?

It was Game Boy Advance, yeah. This was Game Boy Advance cart that had a sensor in it. And so in order to power up your character, you actually had to like go outside and expose it to sunlight, like actual sunlight. Yeah, it was a crazy design. And it was the sort of thing that kind of, it also kind of sucked because then you had to deal

with the sunlight like glaring on your screen. But, but like the, the, just the, the, the stu, the ambition of it and just like the stupidity of it, I admire. But you're using that to, in my memory, using that to battle Dracula's, right? You're harvesting the power of sun to take out Dracula. That's so cool.

Yeah. Oh, good to know. He comes up a lot, obviously we love him. He is a genius and a maniac and all sorts of things, but I feel like when he cooks in game design, he fucking cooks. Like that's like such a good idea. Yeah.

And some of his ideas that didn't get used are still interesting but obviously insane like Wanting the floppy disk for that one game to smell like blood or whatever he wanted to do Oh, yes, right you wanted actual human blood in it so that way when it got hot enough. It would smell like blood I Can't remember what that was. I don't know if it was a CD or what? It's an interesting idea Good ideas you gotta start with the huge swings that mess yeah absolutely and they wouldn't just they just I

Don't think they didn't do it because it didn't work. They would wouldn't let him do it Sell blood they wouldn't let him do it. Is that legal? I don't know, I think you can sell blood. Ranch, you ever mess around? I don't know if you were ever a Sims person or anything. No, I never got into Sims. Did you ever get into any games with vampiric elements or any vampire medium in general? You never had a Buffy phase or a Twilight phase or anything? Oh, very much a Twilight phase.

Oh, there you go. Very, very much. Yeah. Unfortunately. Yeah, and we talked about Buffy earlier, but like the Buffy, there were some Buffy games, right? I believe so. I never messed around with them. I was never into Buffy. I, yeah, I somehow missed it.

There was like all this, like that was, I put that in the same category as like Dragon Ball Z like things that people I grew Up with were absolutely obsessed with that somehow just never made it across my desk had no I had no idea What the other kids at my school were doing? Yeah, we missed it. I loved Buffy. I was a huge Buffy fan Yeah, and I watched it on television. I watched it on UPN. It was great I got the I rented the other the older seasons and I watched them with my mom I watched it on UPN. It was great, I rented the older seasons and I watched them with my mom and I thought they were fantastic. I went on the internet and I got into arguments

with strangers about Buffy and it was great. Yeah, I don't know, I never played a Buffy video game though. I wish I had. Have you revisited Buffy with any recency at all? It's been a very long time. I revisited when I was like 21, and there's like a big kind of twisty thing that happens in season five, I think in season five,

that I realized actually did make me really angry and did feel like kind of a betrayal of the audience. Interesting. Yeah, just like a really major retcon that I'm like, you know what? I don't feel good about this. I'm 22, I'm really angry. Uh-huh, sure.

About everything all the time. And this, I won't put up with it. Did you see, I saw the TV glow? Yeah, I did. I really enjoyed it. Yeah, I really liked it. Aaron Powell As someone who has like nostalgia for Buffy, which I didn't, but I like I for me I was thinking of like, are you afraid of the dark or other like I was thinking of, you know, other sort of like adjacent, you

know, like horror TV, like, like, like how did you like that element respond to it of like, because to me there's this point I'm not trying to just to spoil anything here But there there there is an aspect of the way the character depending on their age Views this thing they have such a connection for changes which I felt like really was was was super like you know real to How we perceive things yeah? Yeah, really cool movie you see that I watched it on a plane pretty recently And I'm just gonna say plane not the spot. No, it's not the spot for that movie man. It'd give that a proper screening

Cuz also there was this lady. There was this lady like right behind us the whole in God bless her She seemed like she was having a great time on the plane. It was quiet zone on the plane by the way It was nighttime on the plane. It was quiet zone on the plane, by the way. It was nighttime on the plane. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say she talked for five hours straight on the plane. No! Oh boy, that's rough. And it was so crazy.

So I would like to actually watch it again, because I could see what it was going for, and I was super locked into, I don't know, some of the metaphors and things like that. I was like, this is working for me, but I think't know like some like the metaphors and things like that I was like this is working for me But I think I would like to appreciate it more on like a actual TV and not my iPad Stuffed into the pocket in front of me on the American Airlines free entertainment I think you really I think you really enjoy it. Yeah, and they're excellent your own stances

Yeah, I mean like I look there's it's hard to get to everything because just like again There's so much there's so many vampires in games. There's so many vampire centric games You know I'm I'm sure we could have talked about like kid Dracula for Gameboy or whatever. Okay. I have played some kid Dracula Wow Let's wrap it up with kid Dracula Talk about character design When they say like Kirby is shaped like a friend, Kid Dracula is shaped like a friend. Dracula's my nemesis, Kid Dracula? We could hang out, I love that kid.

He's cool looking. Yeah, I'd take him to a ball game. It's a really cool character design. Night game. Okay, I'm seeing Kid Dracula for what I think is the first time. I love this guy. Right?

This guy is good. This is really, really good character design. He has like gray overalls, and he's wearing like a white shirt, and he has like white hair, and he looks happy. Yeah, he's having a blast. I'm seeing the arc of time going into the future, and 18 months from now, Matt's showing up the studio

with a fresh Kid Dracula tattoo. This does unfortunately look exactly like something I would get tattooed. He's extremely good I start acting like him too. You can pull that off. You kind of have Kid Dracula energy as it is honestly. Yeah, I mean he is this is me. I love the all a lot of vampires wear this like jewel Jewel and I like I don't know what it is or the significance of it, but I do love the jewel.

My great grandpa wore a jewel. Did he really? Yeah, because he pretended to be a prince. Wait, what? He wore a fake jewel? All right. He was from Wisconsin and pretended to be a Russian prince for most of his life, I guess, and wore a plastic and like an ascot and a wig. Can I ask? I guess he kinda dressed like Kid Dracula.

To what end? Like what was the... What was this ruse? Uh, he... to get business. Oh wow. Cool. Hey, you know what, I'm all for that. I like it. I'm interested. I just... Victor Laskran. Yeah, exactly. Before the era of you know internet research you can't get, hey this guy, you know what, I'm all for that. I'm interested. I just yeah exactly it's before the era of you know internet research You can't get play this guy. You know what I just gonna take on faith. This guy's a prince He's got a big jewel at the very least it's extremely fun. Yeah That's how you earn you said it was an uncle. Oh my mom's grandpa your mom's grandpa. Okay, great-grandfather That's that's a home run. Yeah, that's family legacy I don't know. I'm not quite old enough yet. I'm a little older. I could

Maybe that's maybe maybe that's why I had feel this enmity with Dracula's I meant to replace him Don't go mad with power, because that's the whole thing that happened with him. Don't do that. And don't slick your hair back like that. I can't. It doesn't work for my hair. I can't.

Hey, let's do a segment. This is The Price is Bite, spelled B-Y-T-E. Now look, if this was the Price is Bite spelled B-I-T-E, this could be a food segment. This isn't that. This is spelled B-Y-T-E, like megabyte, because we're talking the prices of video games. This is coming about because Baldur's Gate 3 collectors edition sealed which I own Recently reached three thousand dollars on eBay. Can you believe that I fucking canceled mine? Matt? Why did you do that? I just didn't need all the little trinkets. I didn't need it all I fucked up

Anyway, then we'll see if that continues to hold or if that they really hopefully they'll release more and that will Everyone is holding is trying to flip it you know won't be able to do so anymore I will read the listing of a retro game or retro hardware you will guess the you know I'll take the gun I will read the listing of a retro game and you guess the current bid or buy it now price and USD without going over ranch you can play along as well all All right, first up, and we have some art here just so you can see a picture of what is being sold. First up, these are all on eBay.

This is an NES first print Super Mario Brothers 3 C.I.B. C.I.B. If you don't know the acronym means complete in box. So this is opened, but this has every element inside including the manual. There are 11 bids for this. How much do you think this goes for without going over? So I'm gonna go ahead and say, there's no way it's going for under

the sticker price on here, which is 32.99. Okay. There's no way it's under. The faded ancient sticker price. Which also to me seems like a pretty reasonable price. I'm guessing that wasn't the launch price. That must have been, yeah, that must have been a pre-owned copy or something.

Yeah, because at launch, I would say that that cost 79.99 in like 1980, whatever dollar. Yeah, I wonder. I'm gonna say complete in box on eBay, $150. Matt says $150. Elbie, what do you think? So I'm really, this is maybe the thing I'm worst at in all the world is guessing how much video games cost.

To the point that I have friends who like to make me do this because it's funny. So I was looking at this thinking like $1,000. How much Super Hard Brothers 3 would cost, $1,000? I don't think it's $1,000, but I am gonna say it's more than under $50, I'm gonna say it's like $2.50. $2.50. Ranch, what do you think?

I'd say $1,000. You all went over the top bid right now. $127.50, I think because it's not, you know, it's just like a bonus, it's not sealed. All right, next up, we do have something that is sealed. This is a new sealed Elden Ring PS5 Collector's Edition. Okay, so is this the, this doesn't include Shadow of the Earth Tree DLC?

No, this is from the launch of the game. Okay. LB, you can start for this one. We'll trade off the order. $1,000? $1,000. No, no, no, no, no. $300?

$300. Ranch, what do you think? $79. $79. I'm thinking about what this would retail for, because it looks like a big box. It's on a table that is the length of what looks like two chairs So I'm guessing there is a statue in there of some kind

Or you know some some pack-in gift of some sort that would make it collectible I would guess that this probably retailed for like 300 or so dollars. I'm gonna say on eBay, it's probably somewhere in the $700 area. LB takes it, $360. Wow. You hear that, Nicky Grayson?

You hear that, Nicky Grayson of giantbomb.com? You hear that? Now who doesn't know how much things cost? All right, next up. This is a game we talked about on this episode, Castlevania Symphony of the Night. This is not the greatest hits edition. This is Sony PS1, this is from 1997, this is CIB, complete in box, and yes, this is the black label, so this does not have the intrusive greatest hits green label on it. There are two bids for this one. What is the current bid?

Ranch will start with you 1999 Ranch says 1999 Matt what do you think I just bought a copy of Tony Hawk's pro skater on eBay? It is the greatest hits edition. It did cost me ten dollars Greatest Hits edition, it did cost me $10. Castlevania Symphony of the Night, for the right, you're gonna pay more for the not Greatest Hits version.

Certainly a premium there. I'm gonna say it's $75. $75, LB, what do you think? I'm gonna split the difference and say like 25. Matt takes it because this one is actually up to $117.50 right now. This was not a game that had a huge printing in its original run in my memory, so that might be part of it. Alright, next up.

Chrono Trigger SNES complete CIB excellent condition with both posters. There's a buy it now price for this. Matt, what do you think? A beloved game, one of the most well-regarded games of all time. This is everything that you would get with the Super Nintendo edition of it, although it is not sealed. I'm going to say $1,000. Matt says $1,000.

LB? $999. Wow. $1,000. LB? $999. Wow! You kind of reverse prices righted it. So there's exactly one score, one number where you will get it right. It's an interesting strategy.

I'm so confident, I felt something, I'm like this is a just like move. We'll see if it pays off. Ranch, what do you think? I feel so confident, I feel like this is just like move. We'll see if it pays off. Ranch, what do you think? $1,001. Oh my God. That's solidarity. Here's the thing.

LB takes it. Oh my God. This is listed for $999. Oh my God. I've become, Dracula watch out. My power lip's getting higher and higher and higher. You don't even need the jewel. All right, next up, this is a Metal Gear Solid, not one with a Dracula.

This is Metal Gear Solid 3, subsistence limited edition. So this is a limited edition that has the bundle. Four subsistence, which was the reissue. Three discs, manual, and the game itself. Condition here is very good. We're looking for the buy it now price. And it's to me? This is for PlayStation 2, and yes,

I'll be starting this one, sorry. Okay, but to the buy it now, it's gonna be more than a bid would be All those CDs are out touching the air That's gonna lower the price laid out on blue velvet there. Yeah Maybe that's a tablecloth. I'm not sure what it is. It's tasting modern air. That's gonna just I'm gonna say like $95. $95. Ranch, what do you think?

$130. 130? Yeah. 130. Matt? Gosh. I'm gonna say $200. Ranch takes it.

Wow. $148. Oh my God. Everyone is on the board Matt has one LB has to ranch has one Next up the original fallout 1997 big box PC windows so this was the original version before it came out in a slimmer case. This was a big fat box This is embossed first print and sealed Condition is brand new we're looking for a buy it now price. And Ranch you will start. Six hundred dollars. Michelle says six hundred dollars. Is it possible that when this launched, even this edition was thirty dollars?

I think it's entirely possible, yeah, because PC games were, you know, like this one, they were a little cheaper back then in my memory serves. If this one certainly came on floppy disks, it might have been, this was probably on a CD, but 90, 97. Yeah, this was probably on a CD. How did it already win RPG of the Year? Great question. This looks like a sticker that they added on later

to a sealed box that was in store. That's my guess. I'm gonna say, because this is a modern listing, I'm gonna guess that the success of the show is gonna drive the price of something like this up. I'm gonna say this is $600. So Ranch already guessed exactly $600.

Then I'm gonna say $600, no. Then I'm gonna say $900. $900, LB what do you think? So when this first came up, my first thought was like, it's gonna be like $60,000. And I'll take a shot. But sealed in box, I'm gonna say like maybe $1,500.

LB takes it. Whoa. Still undershoots it by quite a bit. $5,999. Oh my God. I'm so glad I a bit, $5,999. I'm so glad I didn't guess 60,000. All right, we got two more here. Next up, this is- Can you imagine buying that?

What, like spending $6,000 to buy it now, a sealed fallout? Yeah, I mean, I don't know. And opening it? It's such a complete dipshit, not understanding what you're doing. Oh cool, now I don't know. It's just such a... And opening it? It's like a complete dipshit, not understanding what you're doing. Oh cool, now I can play it.

All right, Matt, you're going first for this one, right? Yeah. Okay, so this is a, the listing is Nintendo NES Family Fun Fitness Stadium Events Cartridge and Box Authentic Works. Now the reason this game is on this list, this is one of the rare this game is on this list. This is one of the rarest games ever released in America.

There was a printing of just as many as several as few as several dozen maybe a few hundred copies of this. This was the original version of the power pad game world class track meet. Nintendo saw this saw its potential and purchased the rights pulled it from shelves and rebranded it. We're looking rebranded it. We're looking for a buy it now price. $3,000. Matt says $3,000.

LB, what do you think? There's only a dozen of them. Then it should be more expensive than Fallout, I feel. And I feel this is like museum quality. This should be in like the Louvre or something, right? So I think it's probably like, like $8,000. That's how much money I'm saving. Family fun fitness, or family and fitness?

Family fun fitness stadium events. Yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm going for. Love how video games used to be titled. Family fun fitness stadium events, sure. Ranch, that's what I'm going. Love how video games used to be titled. Family fun, fitness, stadium events, sure. Ranch, what do you think? I'm gonna say 10K. Whoa.

Ranch is gonna say 10K. Ranch is gonna take it, because this one is currently listed at $54,999. Ranch has two, Matt has one, LB has three, still in the lead, with one left. This, can I just, can I say about this game? Uh-huh Nick. This is a really good game. Okay? I'm glad great This is really really well. We'll reuse this at some point Let's do it next week

We have one left this is Mary Kate and Ashley sweet 16 license to drive for Nintendo Gamecube. This is Mary-Kate and Ashley's Sweet 16 License to Drive for Nintendo GameCube. This is disc only, condition acceptable. We're looking for a buy it now price. Yeah, this one has definitely gotten some wear. This might, is it possible this was your copy range? I actually had a bootleg copy

when I lived in Thailand. I believe all versions of this upon release were released as acceptable. Gosh. LB, who's going first? I forget what the rotation was. Who went first last time? I went first last time.

Okay, so LB, you'll go first for this one. For a buy it now for this? Yeah. I think they're time. Okay, so LB, you'll go first for this one. For a buy it now for this? Yeah. I think they're probably asking for, if they're gonna bother putting this up, I would say they have to be asking for at least $5. Right?

Maybe? I'm saying $5. $5. I don't think they're gonna get it. No offense to the Olsen family. Rachele, what do you think? I'm gonna say $2.50. $2.50.

Matt, false to you. I'm gonna say $11. $11. Here's the thing. It depends on how charitable I wanna be because LB, you technically went over, this is listed for $4.99. So I think I'll give it to Ranch

partly because of your affiliation for this particular game, your affection for it and your affiliation with this game. But LB, I think you have shaken this monkey off of your back. I don't think you have any sort of a lack of skill for naming the price of games. I think you seem pretty adept at it. Yeah, you're not bad at this specific thing that we didn't even know you were bad at. You're actually good at this.

I no longer have anything to be ashamed of. Thank you so much for this. This day that you all arranged in advance knowing that I was insecure about it to heal me. It was really beautiful. Wow. Hey, that's this week's Get Played. Our producers are Michelle Chen, Ranchyard underscore, underscore, sard. Our music is by Ben Prunty, benpruntymusic.com.

Our art is by Duck Brigade Design, duckbrigade.com. And hey, check out our Patreon, patreon.com slash get played where you can find our entire pre-headgum back catalog plus ad free main feed episodes and our Patreon exclusive show, Get Animated. Matt, we reckon we are watching Uzumaki right about now. Yeah, we're watching. And I haven't started it yet because Nick and Heather handled the first one,

but I'm jumping in pretty soon. And let me tell you, I've been reading it. I'll say that. Yeah. And that's all I'll say. I've been reading it. Yes, this is an adaptation of the Junji Ito manga Unfortunately, the animation started off strong quality started off strong and then took a bit of a dip But we are soldiering through anyway patreon.com

Get played for all that LB honk tears fledgling manner is the game is the visual novel tell everyone about it anything else You want to plug? Thanks so much for being here. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. This was so much fun Yeah, please check out Fledgling Manor. I made it when my friend Merrick Kay and our friend Shade, it's a visual novel about a vampire reality show. Think Big Brother meets what we do in the shadows, but like a little bit sexier and a little bit more political. But unless you think that's woke,

in which case it's all sexy all the time, baby. Or it's political in the way it's all sexy all the time Or it's political in the way that you like We have a free demo up right now on steam and itch.io So check it out wishlist it please if you when we get to 2,000 wish lists for the game on steam Such an achievable number. I will put bat wings that I have purchased, they're costume bat wings, not from a real bat, that would be cruel, on my beautiful dog and take pictures and put them online.

So even if you don't wanna play the game but you wanna see my cute dog in a little costume, it's only gonna happen if we reach that number. No costume for her if we don't reach it because I'm a hardliner. So yeah, please, please please please check it out Yeah wish if you're you know for for anyone at Steam wish listing a game is is something you can do for free Yeah fledgling matter check it out. It always helps out indie games, and it's it's it's really it's really cool

I can I'm very excited to play the finished version I'll also just say that the you know obviously great pedigree from the design the design team there design team the writing team But also the art is really great. Oh yeah, Shade is fabulous. Yeah, Shade is a comics artist. Really, really cool stuff. Huge Vampire the Mask-Grade fan. Oh, awesome.

So he's been doing vampires and like, you know, in modern times, worlds, for a long time. And like, yeah, black and white, very distinct. A lot of CG's if you're a VN person, like I think we're gonna have over 15 CGs by the end, so it's gonna be worth it, I promise. Three romance routes. It doesn't just, I'm gonna say,

you can romance some of these songs, so there you go. I just wanna make a record on the show right now. I've opened my Steam app, added to my wish list. Wow. I gotta see this dog But I'm also interested in checking this out to see it looks awesome I'm really excited to check this out when it when it launches. Oh also original soundtrack by Kendall who has a great album also about Elden ring for all the Elden ring fans Wow you can check out her music at hey lol

Elden ring for all the Elden ring fans Wow all right check out her music at hey lol Com you can sign up for our mailing list in secret places calm and follow me forever it hung tears Awesome there you go. Well. Hey, you know got played this week bunch of vampire games Bunch of vampire games got you got you got yes, you got pleasure. Yeah, I don't know what happened to me just there. My brain stopped. Did I, any of you got garlic on here or something? Matt, are you a Dracula?

Oops. Kid Dracula. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

That was a hate gum podcast. Hey, hey, I'm Lamorne Morris. And I'm Kyle Shevrin. And we're here interrupting your workout to tell you about the La Morning After podcast, now on HeadGum. That's right. Every Wednesday a new episode drops and we- wait, Lamorne, what are you doing over there? It's nothing, just polishing my Emmy. Why?

Because we're now the only official Headgum podcast hosted by an Emmy winner. Is that true? Probably not. But Jake Johnson's on Headgum. Does he have an Emmy? No. But he has been a guest on The La Morning After. Which might be an even bigger honor.

I mean, and we have other amazing guests like Glenn Powell, Raven Simone, the cast of New Girl, and many, many more. Plus we play games, we tell stories, we poll the fans for questions. We poll them for questions, Jesse. Polling them constantly. Up and down, sideways, backwards. It's a lot less weird than it sounds. You'll see.

Subscribe to The Morning After on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And watch video episodes on YouTube. New episodes drop every Wednesday.