EXP Podcast #568: Animal Crossing: New Horizons Debrief

Just in case you needed a reminder to pay your rent.

Oh hey, it's your favorite neighbors!  You know: the two weirdos who stay inside and play video games all day and then talk about said video games.  After a small preview last week, we're returning to Animal Crossing: New Horizons for a formal debrief.  There's a surprising amount of analysis and design for a game about a quaint animal town, so we hope you give it a listen.  But if you get sick of us, just know that the ability to craft a good fence means you can craft a good neighbor.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.



 Show Notes:

- Runtime: 41 min 19 sec
- Music from the Animal Crossing: New Horizons original soundtrack

EXP Podcast #567: Playing with Patience

"Keep your vegetables, you monster!"

Put those down those turnips and revolt against the tyranny of Tom Nook's exessive dialogue bubbles! Or maybe we need to relax and let the Turnips be? This week on the EXP Podcast, Animal Crossing has us asking big questions about patience, frustration, and why we can't just eat spaghetti with our hands.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.



 Show Notes:
- Runtime: 40 min 11 sec
- Music by Brad Sucks

EXP Podcast #566: Hunkering Down With New Games

Just a normal day for the Doom guy.

We made it through March!  Hope everyone is still hanging in there.  We are still waiting out the global pandemic in our neck of the woods, so we're taking the opportunity to talk about how the social distancing rules are impacting some big games.  We've also had some time the play Animal Crossing and Doom Eternal during our stint in the great indoors.  Take a well deserved break and think about better things.  Like punching demons in the face!

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.



 Show Notes:
- Runtime: 31 min 20 sec
- "Pokémon Go Will Soon Let You Raid From Your Couch," by Ethan Gach, via Kotaku
- "Final Fantasy 7 Remake is shipping early, so Square Enix is asking fans not to spoil it," by Julia Lee, via Kotaku
- "Your landlord in Final Fantasy 14 won’t demolish your house during the pandemic," by Owen S. Good, via Polygon
- Music by Brad Sucks

EXP Podcast #565: Kentucky Route Zero Debrief

"This ditty's called 'Which Side Are You On?'"

This week on the EXP Podcast, we load up the truck and take a little ride on the Kentucky Route Zero. This is a game nearly a decade in the making. It's a surreal, folkloric exploration of a great many ideas and it transcends space and time. All that is to say, this little review of ours isn't easy - and hell, sometimes, neither is playing the game. We hope you at least enjoy the ride.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




 Show Notes
- Runtime: 46 min 08 sec
- Music from the Kentucky Route Zero OST

EXP Podcast #564: Bridging the Social Distance

If only it was this simple.

The world seems pretty wild right now, right?  The COVID-19 situation has escalated quite a bit in the recent weeks and we hope everyone is doing as well as can be expected.  We decided there's no way to do a normal show under the circumstances, so consider this podcast a virtual check in from us to you.  We're physically incapable of avoiding all video game talk, so you'll still get plenty of that; there's just some more real life stuff mixed in.  Pull up a virtual chair and hang out.  Stay safe out there!

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




 Show Notes
- Runtime: 35 min 24 sec
- Music by Brad Sucks

EXP Podcast #563: Save Scumbags

The face of a "Save Scumbag"

This week on the EXP Podcast we get a fresh start! Inspired by an article from Polygon by Nicole Carpenter, we are talking about the age-old practice of save-scumming  - the practice of loading up an old save file to redo your actions and get the optimal (or at least different) outcome. Nicole uses it to save a horse - but we can think of many more malicious - and positive - ways to use such godly powers!

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.





 Show Notes
- Runtime: 33 min 24 sec
- "I'm Reckoning With My Save Scumming Ways by Nicole Carpenter via Polygon
- Music by Brad Sucks

EXP Podcast #562: Gradeschool Pokémaster

Can't wait to sign my child up.

I often worry about the next generation and the world they're inheriting, but then I realize that they don't need my concern: they have Pokémon to protect them!  This week, we talk about a few recent news stories: Riot is getting into the tactical shooter business, Twitch is weird, and the children are Pokémon savants.  We live in strange times.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.



- Runtime: 36 min 08 sec
- "Riot's Next Game Is Valorant, A First-Person Shooter," by Luke Plunkett, via Kotaku
- "Twitch's Most-Watched Clips Have Almost Nothing To Do With Games," by Jay Castello, via Kotaku
- "7-Year-Old Simone Lim Wins At The Pokemon's Oceania Championships," by Jenny Zheng, via GameSpot
- Music by Brad Sucks