About this episode
Game journalist and Giant Bomb co-founder Jeff Gerstmann joins the panel to cover The Wheelman, phone phreaking, and Super Sushi Pinball. Questions this week: Rachel Weil asks: What are you favorite hidden gem video game reviews? (03:20) What does Frank have to report on his two-week absence to save video games? (09:20) What’s going on with the video game speculator market? (14:43) How and why did Giant Bomb become a wiki for video games, and hows that going? (19:57) Design a game about phone phreaking in the 20th century. (25:48) Dirtbag Kory asks: In the year 2050, what will be known as the most ridiculous part of video games in 2021? (31:25) What game design principles make a really satisfying pinball table? (35:26) Fifteen years after the launch of the Wii, what do we have to say about casual games? (41:12) What’s the history and current state of publishers paying for reviews? (46:34) What is the Francisco Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son of video games? (52:27) LIGHTNING ROUND: Who’s It For? (56:36) We have a lovely forum available if you want to discuss the episode ! A SMALL SELECTION OF THINGS REFERENCED: Shade wolf from Nier (spoilers) Dog’s Life The Revenge of Shinobi Kimimi The Game Eating She-Monster Mizzurna Falls Old Man Murray Erik Wolpaw’s Final Fight One Review Chrontendo Topher’s Sonic 2 review Vin Diesel’s Alternative Guide to Barcelona by tombo Vin Diesel’s The Wheelman The Video Game History Foundation, Which Was Co-Founded By Frank Cifaldi And Kelsey Lewin In Case You Didn’t Know Sealed Mario 64’s Record-Breaking $1.5M Sale Has Retro Experts Skeptical CheetahMen II Giant Bomb Wiki ComicVine Pup Breeder Phone Phreaking The Thompson Twins Adventure Her Story Flaming Carrot Comics Larry Sanders Show Bloody Wolf FunHouse pinball machine Centaur pinball machine F-14 Tomcat pinball machine Lethal Weapon 3 pinball machine The Pinball Circus pinball machine Banzai Run pinball machine Tap Titans 2 Saturn Devouring His Son Recommendations: Brandon: The first half of Take Care of My Cat (2001) , The Rippington’s Weekend in Monaco Frank : Stop subscribing to the Video Game History Foundations incredible “Mystery Box” Vintage Video Game Magazines Jeff : Giant Bomb Podcasts , garages Edited by Esper Quinn . Original Music by Kurt Feldman .