Game designer and author Mathew Kumar joins a panel guest hosted by editor Esper Quinn to cover famous famiclones, the latest in Nintendo developments, and Tommy Tallarico’s unexpected ascent into backgammon legend. Hosted by Esper Quinn, with Frank Cifaldi, Brandon Sheffield, and Mathew Kumar. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

Snake Eater (Live at Symphony Hall) Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Sonic Mania Sonic Mania OST - Studiopolis Act 2 Snow Surfers OST - Ronnie’s Theme Rippin’ Riders alpha’s video game drum and bass music playlist Bomberman Hero Jun Chikuma Saori Kobayashi Sylvan Tale Panzer Dragoon Sylvan Tale シルヴァンテイル組曲/Compose&Arrange：小林早織 Every Game I’ve Finished 14>24 by Mathew Kumar Yakuza 4 Makoto Date Yakuza 4 Theme “For Faith” (with lyrics)

1: merritt k asks, what are some of the more interesting bootleg or knockoff consoles? (06:50)

Pegasus famiclone Nintendo Entertainment System EA FIFA series Battletank Circus Charlie Phantom System Dendy Xiao Bawang Handheld TV game Frogger Scramble Commodore 64 ZDog Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) Zdinarsik (Z-Dog) Battle City Bomberman PC Engine Ghostbusters II Predator

2: What The Hell Is Going On At Nintendo? Part II Chapter 2 - Online Network Test (20:16)

Ash Parrish Nintendo’s mysterious Playtest begins to leak Minecraft Roblox Pokémon GO Splatoon 3 Animal Crossing series Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Fortnite

3: What The Hell Is Going On At Nintendo? Part III - Nintendo Music (26:50)

Alarmo Wii Shop Channel Main Theme Animal Crossing - 5AM Nintendo Museum Rosalina Astro Bot Master Chief

4: At this point in your life, what would it take to get you to play more video games? (32:34)

Metaphor: ReFantazio NieR Metroid Prime Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Demonschool Martin Scorsese Stalker (1979)

5: Is Tommy Tallarico a backgammon champion now? (40:37)

Tommy Tallarico’s New Goal Is Becoming A Backgammon Legend Tommy Tallarico Backgammon

6: Alex Jaffe asks, what is the strongest emotion that video games can produce? (43:49)

Super Princess Peach

7: If you, somehow, wrote an essay for every game you’ve finished, what would you do with those? (51:04)

Every Game I’ve Finished 14>24 by Mathew Kumar Ko-fi Kofi Annan Ninja Gaiden Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story Digital Extremes Digital Eclipse Warframe Dark Sector Internet Archive The Tower of Druaga Clive James

LIGHTNING ROUND: Name Design - Magic: the Gathering Cards (58:24)

Chaos Orb Wurmcoil Engine Sublime Epiphany Simian Spirit Guide Mass Hysteria Waste Not Nemesis of Reason Sunfall Sword of Feast and Famine Otterball Antics Thraximundar

Recommendations and Outro (01:10:45):

Frank: UFO 50 Mathew: It’s very easy to replace your showerhead and shower cartridge, Every Game I’ve Finished 14>24 by Mathew Kumar Brandon: Mariko Tone - Purple Rose Esper: The YouTube version of this very podcast

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