Ep. 181 - All Six Of Them, with Ash Parrish

Game journalist and friend of the show Ash Parrish returns to cover Amiga AI, alien boyfriends, and pynball. Questions this week: From Heather Alexandra: What game has the tastiest potions? (03:53) What’s something you never want to see in a video game again? (08:27) What are the best achievements in video game AI development? (12:56) Which officially released video games are most transparently fanfiction of other games? (17:37) Design the perfect romancable alien RPG NPC, but make them distinctly nonhuman. (22:27) Dirtbag MoxBagel asks: How would you re-design pinball to be more of a 30 minute game instead of a 3 minute game? (28:40) Have you ever wished a game challenged you a little more? (34:53) What are the best liminal spaces in a video game? (39:41) Has your opinion of a game ever changed after speaking with the developer? (43:53) What is the Miles Davis “Kind of Blue” of video games? (49:52) LIGHTNING ROUND: Alphanumerous Characters (55:26) Think you have better answers than the panel? Politely discuss this episode in the Insert Credit forums. A SMALL SELECTION OF THINGS REFERENCED: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son by Iron Maiden The Seventh Sign (1988) Synesthesia A Healer Only Lives Twice Phantasy Star Bayonetta Castlevania Holy Water C.C. Lemon Final Fantasy Potion energy drink Bawls Mamotte Knight Ico The Last Guardian Enemy: Tempest of Violence Final Fight River City Ransom X-COM Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee Lemmings Yooka Laylee Fantasian Doujin games Melty Blood Touhou fangames I Wanna Be The Guy Freedom Planet Project X Zone Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Inuyasha Queer Eye for the Straight Guy Elcor Volus Blue humans Babylon 5 Trypophobia (warning: potentially upsetting) Tryptophan Misophonia 3D Pinball Pinball Quest Devil’s Crush Demon’s Tilt Alien Crush Fantastic Pinball Pokemon Pinball Sonic Spinball Metroid Prime Pinball Flipnic: Ultimate Pinball Yoku’s Island Express It Takes Two The Witness Nier: Automata Deadly Premonition Mega Man 2 ending cavern Sonic CD soundtrack “Games for which there are two soundtracks, and both are good” on the Insert Credit Forums Black Athena: How Hades Gets Its Gods Right by Ash Parrish Slap Happy Rhythm Busters Miles Davis “Kind of Blue” Super Mario Galaxy Spec-Ops: The Line Wii Sports Take Five Street Fighter IV Mortal Kombat III Recommendations: Ash: Kotaku Splitscreen, twitter.com/adashtra Brandon: Fourth Dimension, Melinda’s Hot Sauce Frank: Shaquanda’s Hot Pepper Sauce Jaffe: The Unknown (1927) This Week’s Insert Credit Art Jam Topic: Cheating Edited by Esper Quinn. Original Music by Kurt Feldman.