8-4 Play

Join the fearsome 8-4-some as they charge headlong into Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, ruminate on the crowning of our final (?) Elden Lord, and waterslide through the Summer Gaming madness. Time – Topic Discussed: 01:39 – Nicknames & Mac n’ Cheese Talk 18:36 – Fire Emblem: Three Hopes impressions 27:09 – ***Start Age of Calamity Spoilers*** 29:22 – ***End Age of Calamy Spoilers*** 35:48 – Elden Ring, ***FULL OF END GAME SPOILERS*** 1:00:13 – News: Summer Games Fest, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and more!

We're a bit behind (or rather, ahead of?) all the Summer Gaming nonsense -- hey, we live in Japan, we just got rid of Zima, fer crissakes! -- but still got plenty of hot chatz re: Street Fighter 6, Resident Evil Rem4ke, Final Fantasy XVI, Mega Drive Mini 2, and Sonic Frontiers. Time – Topic Discussed: 01:51 – Nicknames 08:00 – Wild Arms (and PS+ Premium Impressions) 20:12 – News: Sony’s State of Play, Giantbomb, SEGA and more! 01:33:40 – Demon’s Souls 01:37:28 – Elden Ring 01:41:56 – Rogue Legacy 2

Elden who? Bury that fossil alongside the NHK guy--this week, we're diving deep on Project Zomboid, the hot new...wait, it's from 2013? Well, whatever. Roy's into it and that's all that matters. Plus a lil Kirby, a lil news, and maybe just a -few- words about the From game that shall no longer be named... Time – Topic Discussed: 01:08 – Nicknames 19:41 – Project Zomboid 35:46 – Kirby and the Forgotten Land 42:16 – Elden Ring (and some Demon's Souls!) 50:39 – News: Revamped PS+ Retro Titles, Silent Hill rumors and more!

Our final (?) discussion of Elden Ring dives so deep your rainbow stone would shatter before it hits bottom, including spoiler-filled endgame zigs and half-assed lore zags. Also: some news. Time – Topic Discussed: 01:20 – Nicknames 19:23 – Elden Ring 34:29 – ***ROUND 1 ELDEN RING SPOILER TALK STARTS*** 1:01:03 – ***ROUND 1 ELDEN RING SPOILER TALK ENDS*** 1:13:20 – ***ROUND 2 ELDEN RING SPOILER TALK STARTS*** 1:23:01 – ***ROUND 2 ELDEN RING SPOILER TALK ENDS*** 1:27:24 – News: Chip Shortages Continue, Yuji Naka Airs Some Dirty Laundry, Summer Games Fest, and more! 2:00:34 – ***MINOR ELDEN RING SPOILERS START*** 2:04:11 – ***MINOR ELDEN RING SPOILERS END***

What better way to celebrate Showa Day than with a smattering of Radical Dreamers, a dollop of Chrono Cross, and most importantly, in-depth analysis of every t-shirt in Uniqlo’s new Final Fantasy collaboration line?   01:05 – Nicknames 09:34 – Elden Ring 33:02 – Chrono Cross & Radical Dreamers 49:07 – News: Super Mario movie delayed, Variable Refresh Rate coming to PS5 and more! The Uniqlo/Final Fantasy Colabboration: https://www.uniqlo.com/jp/ja/special-feature/ff35th

A whole lotta Gotta Protectors: Cart of Darkness, signs of Elden Ring burnout (yet somehow we still love talking about it for an hour?), and some kind of Kingdom Hearts something or other I dunno I stopped listening at this part. Plus steak updates and more! Time – Topic Discussed: 1:30 – Nicknames 6:40 – Gotta Protectors: Cart of Darkness 27:48 – Elden Ring (and some Pokémon Legends: Arceus) 1:02:44 – Our Chrono Cross Remastered plans 1:06:34 – News: E3 2022 Cancelled, Kingdom Hearts 4, and more!

April Fools! We do actually mostly talk about Elden Ring again. Hey, where else on the internet is anyone discussing this obscure indie?! We DO have new opinions, at least, with Mark back and 17-Bit honcho Jake Kazdal joining in. Also, Breath of the Wild 2 delay and Sony's revamped PS+. 01:09 – Nicknames 03:48 – Elden Ring 52:34 – Kirby and the Forgotten Land 1:02:36 – Tunic 1:14:45 – Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin impressions 01:24:48 – News: Sony’s Project Spartacus, Breath of the Wild 2 delay.

Who has time to record a podcast when we're still neck-deep in Elden Ring? Not us, Tarnished! But all right, we'll put the twinblades down for an hour, I GUESS. Listen to us talk about our latest ER progress, the new reveals in last week's State of Play, and (not) much more!   Time – Topic Discussed: 01:33 – Nicknames 13:36 – Elden Ring 52:20 – News: Sony's State of Play, Elden Ring Patch Notes, Super Nintendo World, and more!

The Dark Souls of Dark Souls successors is upon us in Elden Ring, so unfurl your fingers and join us by the bonfi—I mean, site of grace—for an extended, (mostly) spoiler-free first discussion about our travels and travails throughout the Lands Between. Time – Topic Discussed: 00:50 – Nicknames 03:08 – Elden Ring 1:37:04 – News: Street Fighter 6, Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, and more!

We go deep on the latest Nintendo Direct, check in with Tina's Pokémon Legends-ary journey, Roy's first foray into Civilization, and welcome Graeme back to yell about Vampire Survivors and why Gabe is wrong about Dark Souls 2. Time – Topic Discussed: 01:11 – Nicknames 09:05 – Pokémon Legends: Arceus 23:01 – Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker (Minor Spoilers!) 28:02 – Apex Legends 31:18 – Civilization VI 42:06 – Vampire Survivors 51:28 – Dark Souls 2 and Dark Souls 3 1:10:49 – News: The February Nintendo Direct and the 3DS/WiiU eShop announcement

Hold onto your apricorns, because this week we’re talking about everyone’s favorite monsters: Banjo and Kazooie! No, just kidding. There’s a new Pokémon game, or so we hear, plus news, an FF14 check-in, Gabe’s mad dash through the Souls series, and more! (Btw folks who regularly listen via Spotify -- we don't feel good about being offered on the service atm so we've decided to stop posting there for now. Apologies for the inconvenience but, well yeah. Please listen elsewhere for the time being.) Time – Topic Discussed: 01:32 – Nicknames 12:58 – Pokémon Legends: Arceus 51:00 – Pokémon Gold and Silver 57:08 – Dark Souls 01:14:20 – Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker 01:21:39 – Banjo-Kazooie 01:34:45 – News: Nintendo Switch Sales, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 Rumors, and more!

Mostly news, and okay, yes, we do talk about Microsoft buying Activision, but only in the sense of who we plan to main in the inevitable upcoming Super Smash Dude Bros. IP crossover franchise. Otherwise: PSVR 2, AGDQ, and the Nintendo hotel. Time – Topic Discussed: 01:38 – Nicknames 18:02 – OCTOPATH TRAVELER 32:01 – News: Playstation VR2, E3’s Online Only Announcement, Microsoft & Activision, and more! 1:19:06 – ***RESIDENT EVIL: VILLAGE SPOILERS*** 1:23:01 – ***END RESIDENT EVIL: VILLAGE SPOILERS***

Fan favorite Shane Bettenhausen stops by to chat classic games / shoot-them-ups, Steam Deck, and TV Asahi's top 100 game list, with a hat tip to 2021 faves and what we're excited about in 2022. Time – Topic Discussed: 01:09 - Nicknames 19:51 - G.Darius HD, Cotton 100% + Panorama Cotton, and Nemesis '90 Kai 25:54 - Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (and general Castlevania talk) 41:04 - Steam Deck impressions 47:34 - Final Fantasy V 56:21 - John's old-school Sega adventures 1:13:05 - Zelda Game & Watch 1:16:41 - ***SPOILERS*** Unpacking 1:24:44 - Untitled Goose Game 1:32:00 - TV Asahi's Top 100 Games 1:48:49- 2021 GOTY thoughts 1:54:11- 2022's most wanted

Can't travel home this year? Let us be your slightly drunk and very opinionated family as we blather on about old Sega games, The Game Awards, and those g-d politicians who are RUINING THIS COUNTRY! Time – Topic Discussed: 01:19 – Nicknames 20:42 – John’s Stuff 34:15 – Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker 51:37 – The Game Awards Recap 01:16:12 – Final Fantasy VI delay, Analogue Pocket orders, fond memories, and more!

17-Bit jefe Jake Kazdal rejoins the party to discuss his new VR title Song In The Smoke, as well hot new releases like Dark Souls and Rez. Content warning: contains Final Fantasy XIV talk. Time – Topic Discussed: 00:43 – Nicknames 20:28 – Song in the Smoke 28:52 – Dark Souls 47:23 – Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker 1:07:35 – Dragon Quest Keshi Keshi 1:22:02 – Rez’s Anniversary

The action picks up moments after last season's cliffhanger ending. Gabe is still on the run from the fuzz -- will he ever be able to show his face in our Zoom window again? Ponder this and more as we talk Nintendo remakes, convenience store sandwiches, VGA categories, and more! Time – Topic Discussed: 01:13 – Nicknames 17:37 – Mario Party Superstars 23:32 – Animal Crossing 31:32 – Dragon Quest X & Final Fantasy XIV 39:29 – News: The Game Awards nominees, Xbox’s 20th Anniversary, and more! 1:15:04 – Listener Q&A

We know, we don’t look a day over #247! Pull up a chair and listen to these ol’ timers recount (and forget) tales from our past, checking in on Shin Megami Tensei V, Pikmin Bloom, and the new Animal Crossing update along the way. Time – Topic Discussed: 02:25 – Nicknames 13:33 – Shin Megami Tensei V 34:32 – Dark Souls Remastered 40:09 – SEGA Classics: Phantasy Star 2 and Shining Force 46:38 – Pikmin Bloom 51:37 – Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update 59:50 – News: Osaka’s getting a Nintendo Store, Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3 temporarily pulled from digital stores, Valve’s Steam Deck gets delayed, and more! 01:11:15 – We Reflect on 300 Episodes of 8-4 Play

We dive deep on RE4 in VR for the Quest with the help of our resident, evil Resident-Evil expert Alex Aniel, and chat Dungeon Encounters, more Super Nintendo World, and some news. Time – Topic Discussed: 00:48 – Nicknames 06:17 – Nintendo 64 on Switch 23:56 – Resident Evil 4: VR 53:42 – Metroid: Dread 1:08:18 – Dungeon Encounters 1:09:40 – News: Playstation’s State of Play, Animal Crossing Direct, Elden Ring delay and more!

This week, we all curl up into very tight balls and barge into Jerry's apartment to talk about nothing. Just kidding! We actually talk about Metroid Dread and big TVs. Time – Topic Discussed: 01:06 – Nicknames 15:38 – Metroid Dread 54:51 – Kena: Bridge of Spirits 1:00:16 – News: Kingdom Hearts coming to Switch, Universal Studios Japan and Pokémon join forces, and more!

Autumn is in the air, even if a classic Tokyo Game Show episode is not. Join us as we talk last judgments on Lost Judgment, get cute with Kena: Bridge of Spirits, and review the latest Nintendo Direct. Hey, how bout that Mario movie? Time – Topic Discussed: 01:58 – Nicknames 22:10 – Lost Judgment 28:42 – Kena: Bridge of Spirits 42:38 – Pokémon UNITE 45:46 – News: Nintendo Direct Recap, Tokyo Game Show has begun, 4K Switch Rumors Return, and more!