Video essayist and composer ThorHighHeels joins video game historian Frank Cifaldi to answer questions about the Dreamcast’s legacy, the PS5 Pro, and penis worms. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi and ThorHighHeels. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

Dreamcast ThorHighHeels Grammy Awards

Question 1: What does the Dreamcast represent? (02:04)

Vaporwave Shenmue Pixies Up close with Sony’s PS5 Pro — and the 30th Anniversary model Sega Genesis Penny’s Big Breakaway Penny Hardaway Xbox PlayStation 4 The Last of Us: Part II PlayStation

Question 2: Is it ever worth getting the Pro version of a console? (07:28)

PlayStation 3 models PlayStation 2 models Nintendo 3DS Nintendo Switch Game Boy Advance SP Nintendo Entertainment System Mario’s Tribal Tattoo Cybersigilism Nirvana Mark Cerny

Question 3: When in your experience have recent video games been most nakedly attempting to generate a meme? (12:56)

Borderlands series Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth Wild Bastards Contra Piss Corps Kingdoms of Amalur: Shitening Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal Assassin’s Creed series Don’t Shit Your Pants Can You Pet the Dog? Back At It Again at Krispy Kreme Earth Defense Force 6 All your base are belong to us

Question 4: What happened to everybody that was making browser flash games? (17:09)

Trials HD Alien Hominid Tom Fulp Bennett Foddy

Question 5: Which phylum in the animal kingdom has the best monster design? (18:38)

(Content warning: most of these are links to types of worms)

Phylum Mollusca (Mollusks) Acanthocephala (Thorny headed worms) Acoelomorpha (Without gut) Annelida (Little ring) Arthropoda (Jointed foot) Brachiopoda (Arm foot) Bryozoa (Moss animals) Chaetognatha (Longhair jaw) Chordata (With a cord) Cnidaria (Stinging nettle) Ctenophora (Comb bearer) Cycliophora (Wheel carrying) Echinodermata (Spiny skin) Entoprocta (Inside anus) Gastrotricha (Hair stomach) Gnathostomulida (Jaw orifice) Hemichordata (Half cord) Kinorhyncha (Motion snout) Loricifera (Corset bearer) Priapulida (Penis worms) Phoronida (Zeus’s mistress) Tardigrada (Slow step) Xenoturbellida (Strange flatworm) Vetulicolia (Ancient dweller)

Question 6: Psynuxie asks, what is the “George R. R. Martin should just hire a ghost writer to finish the series” of video games? (21:50)

George R. R. Martin A Song of Ice and Fire Game of Thrones Hideo Kojima Metal Gear series Yu Suzuki Shenmue III The Simpsons David Cage

Question 7: Ayla asks, what is the most specifically personalized video game recommendation you’ve offered to someone? (28:06)

Tim Rogers Undertale EarthBound The Secret of Monkey Island The Sniper 2 Beethoven’s 2nd Postal Wishbone: Activity Zone

Question 8: LeFish asks, what game would be most improved with the addition of Satan? (32:46)

Spec Ops: The Line Ace Attorney series Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season Daryl Gates Space Quest series

LIGHTNING ROUND: Guess the Top 10 Vtubers (35:25)

Shirakami Fubuki Mori Calliope Hoshimachi Suisei Kobo Kanaeru **ZilverK** Filian Kizuna AI Houshou Marine Gawr Gura

Recommendations and Outro (42:05):

Thor: Electroplankton Frank: King of the Hill

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