Back From The Caribbean

SPEAKER_00 0:03

And we're back. Oh, wait, that's the wrong show. Back. We went somewhere? Wait, what? I missed something. I did. I went all around the Caribbean and pretended that I don't have to worry about work goals, and I still, believe it or not, found a way to worry about work goals.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

That's not a good vacation.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

No, there's a lot of responsibility falls on me. And when I was going through security to board the boat, people in my organization were doing presentations using my training to try to get buyers and try to get a B2B partner for the online trainings I build. And they couldn't access something. And of course, I want them to be successful because I want people to buy my trainings at Kinebridge. And so I had to figure out a way while I'm getting onboarded to the cruise boat to also sign into things using my phone and try to grant accesses. It was only day one. Everybody left me alone for day two through five. So that's good. I'm still very happy about it. Now, did you tell a captain you called it a boat? I actually don't think, unlike other cruises I've done, I don't think I saw the captain a single time. Oh wow. Yeah. But it was fun. It was fun to go. We got to visit Key West. I've never been there before. We got to do a baking show where it wasn't televised, but it was like a TV set. And they did each step of the key lime pie, and then you get to eat it. It was so delicious and authentic with homegrown local ingredients and just so creamy, so perfect. And we just it the whole context of the cruise vacation

Key West And Key Lime Pie

SPEAKER_00 2:05

was anniversary celebration, and so that was really fun. And there actually is a little bit of a video game crossover with our meal on our anniversary night. I want to ask you, Darios, have you ever heard of the restaurant or a restaurant that has La Petite Chef? Can't say that I have. Okay. So you're at this table, very nice, upscale kind of restaurant, tablecloth, place setting. There's a spell book on the table to start the meal. Oh. And you open the spell book and all the pages are blank. But when the meal begins, there's projectors above every single table. It instructs you to open the book. There's lasers on your table now coming from the projector to show you how to line the book up open. And then things come to life on the pages. A chef walks out of it with a fairy guide, and they play this video game-looking story over top of your table for every place setting. And the tiny chef walks around on your table throwing ingredients into the pot or into the container or into the robot. And it plays out this very overcooked kind of scene. And then when the stage is completed, they actually bring the dish out that just got created by this video game character. You don't control the character, but it looks very much like a top-down Nintendo style like switch to graphics movie. Interesting. And here I thought you were going to say they're going to sing you be our guest. The second course was a fish plate. And the second course actually was put together, the table turned into like a Tron style decoration because the AI challenged the chef that they could make a better dish. And so the chef is running around trying to destroy this robot by pulling the power cords out of it. The robot is like throwing the fish and the cream and the vegetables onto the plate. Eventually the chef kills the giant tentacled robot, and you get to eat the fish meal. It was very fun. I I commented to my wife that our chef just won a boss fight.

Projected Dinner As A Game

SPEAKER_00 4:48

So it was really fun. I don't remember every single stage of the the play, but it's a really neat kind of cutscenes playing out on your table and then eating the dishes that are created by these fictional game graphic style characters. It was just really neat.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Very interesting. So do they do that as a matter of course? I mean, is that something that the this particular cruise line does to try to gamify the experience for everybody?

SPEAKER_00 5:29

I don't think it I think it's more that the cruise line has licensed a show to be on their ships for certain restaurants on certain nights. How what's the acrobatic show that there's like different ones and Disney Springs has it? Oh my gosh. Cirque du Soleil, right? Like I think it's like that. Like, there's different destinations in the country where you can go and watch this show. Oh yeah. Or different versions of the show. It was a really neat experience. I did also have a little bit of gaming during the trip, and I've had a good amount of gaming to dive into since returning.

Steam Deck Tinkering On Vacation

SPEAKER_00 6:20

And I wanted to run by that with you before we start talking about some of the things that are going on in the gaming world for gamers, the gaming industry, developing games. I I finally bought Expedition 33 for my Steam Deck or on Steam. When I streamed it last year, I was playing it on PS5, but I had not bring my PS5 on the cruise. And I knew I wasn't going to play video games a whole lot on the cruise ship, but I wanted to make sure I had access to every game that is the subject of chapters that I need to write. And so I had to buy two games in order to do that. I bought the classic Final Fantasy VII on Steam. And I bought Claire Obscure Expedition 33. And getting that game to work correctly on a Steam Deck was a challenge. I would say the first two days of the cruise, I could have played for up to three hours across those two days, but instead I spent over two and a half of that time just working on settings and downloading updates to try to get it to work. But I got it. And it looks great, and that's surprising because some games on the Steam Deck they run, but they don't look great. And I'm really happy with the experience so far. I've done maybe 10 hours of the game so far now. And I realized something unfortunate when I got to put it down the last time is because of what my topic is for my chapter, none of that 10 hours is actually helpful because all the stuff I need to write about is in the final act of the game. I don't know if the Steam Deck copy actually is gonna matter all that much, but it's cool to have it. It's gonna matter. You can yeah, I don't know. I in my brain, I think I would want to go after the platinum trophy in that game, and that means PlayStation. Yeah. Right. Because on Steam it's just the list says 100%, but there's something I don't know. There's just for me, there's something special about having the platinum trophy that feels like the platinum trophy is missing on Steam when it just says 100%, even though they're the exact same accomplishment.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

Something more a little more tangible, even though it's a virtual thing, having that cup sitting on your virtual trophy shelf that says, Hey, look, I have platinum trophy this thing still means a lot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Yeah, actually, I kind of wish with all the statues behind me in my background, I wish I actually had a platinum trophy back there. Just a replica, maybe 12 to 16 inches tall, just sitting back there. That would be fun. I wonder if I'm sure somebody makes them with a 3D printer or something. I'm sure you can find somebody to make it. Absolutely. Okay.

Ocarina Of Time Remake Hype

SPEAKER_00 9:53

I was looking up where we're at in terms of gamer culture right now. And one of the things that happened earlier in the summer that normally I would have been all over, but I don't think we've talked about it at all in the show and given it some time to shine. The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time remake is coming out for the Switch 2. They're taking the mid-90s Nintendo 64 game and they're making it beautiful and updating it for modern gaming audiences. How do you feel about that, Doritos? So I might actually get a chance to play it.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

As everybody looks at me and goes, For shame, I've never played it. You've never played Ocarina of Time. No, because I've never had an N64 because that came out.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Well, you say mid-90s. I was in college in the mid-90s.

SPEAKER_02 10:51

There's a whole education thing going on and that kind of stuff. So I did not get to partake in the playing of Ocarina of Time.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

I was in middle school when the Nintendo 64 games that were really important to me were coming out. So I was playing video games quite a bit. But actually, that's surprising to me, Doritos, because you're so smart. And one of the things that I say. Well, not smart for not playing the game. But actually, I wonder, has Marcus played Ocarina of Time? Because I've never actually heard him admit that he played Nintendo games ever. I'm not sure if he did.

SPEAKER_02 11:40

I want to say yes, but quick, somebody fact check us. Did he or didn't he? Marcus, did you?

SPEAKER_00 11:48

There's no his computer is dying. So everybody, thoughts and prayers for Marcus's computer.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

That makes him so happy.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Tough spot to do it again. Okay, so I just want to comment. PC gaming is like that. It's so much maintenance and learning how your machine works. And I came face to face with that on my cruise when I just wanted to sit down with my 30 minutes of free time because my wife was napping and I had already slept more than her. And I just wanted to play, and I couldn't because I had to go into settings and download updates to the graphics packs, and it was all confusing to sign into a Wi-Fi network that requires the website page to open and then put a six-digit security code in on a Steam Deck because you can't do that in Steam mode. You have to go into desktop mode. And I have not navigated desktop mode on my Steam Deck enough to feel comfortable figuring out how to bring up the browser window. So I had to learn all kinds of pretty simple things that weren't obvious to me. And it reminded me of, yeah, this is what's this is what PC gaming is like. You get a new game, and as a streamer, there's been a few times where my plan was to play a brand new game via Steam on my PC and stream it. And it always seems like the first hour plus of those stream days, it's just tinkering with settings. And maybe my the flaw in my approach as a streamer is make that part of the show. If I if I just said, hey, new game, guys, we're gonna do a three-hour stream. Remember, it's a PC game. The first hour plus is gonna be settings and updates and getting it to work right. Hopefully, we get through character creation and start the story a little bit today. If I just am happy about it, there's no problem, right? Character creation can be its own stream every time. It was when I played Diablo 4 the most recent time, because Diablo 4 kept dropping me into the current expansion when I wanted to play the base game, because I've never played the base game through. Oh my why? That was an oh my. Oh my, okay. Actually, that brings us to one of our stories, but we're Ocarine of Time didn't really get its time to shine. So I gotta put a pin in the other story about expansion packs.

The Quest That Taught Patience

SPEAKER_00 14:47

So Ocarina of Time is one of those games where I learned a lot about myself and what makes me excited to quest in video games. And specifically, there is a sword that I felt was better than the master sword in that game, and it was called the Big Ouron Sword or Big Goron Sword, but there's no base, so Big Oron Sword. And in order to get it, you had to go find all these items, give them to all these NPCs, simulate the passing of time by playing your nighttime and daytime song on the Ocarina, like for seven days, so 14 times in a row, or something like that. And then the Goron will craft this giant sword that is wielded in two hands, it swings and hits bigger than the master sword. So the master sword is a one-handed blade, it lets you still be quick, it does less damage, but it's more artsy. The big oron sword is like, I'm gonna smash you. I'm gonna hit you once and you go down. And I love weapons like that. It's why I love throwing fireball in DD. It's why I love playing Black Mage in Final Fantasy XIV. I usually have no problem standing still for three seconds if it means I can throw something that hurts you five times more than anything else anyone else is doing. Right. So Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time, around the time where I'm you know 10 to 12 years old, I don't know exactly what age I would have been when I finally owned that game. But it just taught me a lot about what kinds of offense I'm willing to work for and learning patience because it's delayed gratification to get that thing. And that delayed gratification is something I've replayed in many games since. Getting the ultimate key blade and kingdom hearts is a very similar process. Any game where you have to craft and quest and gather materials by doing a certain raid once a week for six weeks straight just to get a better weapon. Final Fantasy 14 does this to me all the time. But also grad school. I will be in school making less money with the promise of when I finish this school, I will have a different occupation and make more money. That mentality started for me playing Zelda on the Nintendo 64. So I hope that generations of new gamers get opportunities to do really obnoxious quests like that on their Switch 2, and it drives them to get PhDs in 2046.

SPEAKER_02 17:53

Making me feel older. So it is quite interesting to see to hear that difference because for me, I mean, that's how I felt about the original Legend of Zelda. I remember being in middle school in the you know, late 80s, and when it all first came out, and a buddy of mine, he and I were literally on the phone playing the game together. Hey, did you find this secret path? Did you find that secret path? Hey, I did this. Did you do this? No, I did it this way. So you know that's when it started for me was the original NES with games like Metroid and the original Legend of Zelda.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Yeah. That's interesting too, because when you're describing your age at different Zelda games, I was thinking about so you're in your twenties when Ocarina of Time comes out. Yeah, early 20s, yeah. Yeah, so that's like Ocarina of Time N64 for you is the same feeling that I have when we start talking about God of War PS2 or Kingdom Hearts, right? It's I'm a generation of games behind you in terms of when certain themes and certain life lessons started becoming really apparent to you in video games, and our nostalgia is anchored to the same type of game, just the previous console generation.

How Nostalgia Changes By Generation

SPEAKER_02 19:51

That's so cool. I can go way back to you know the the good old-fashioned Atari 64s, and that's a whole nother conversation for another day.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

Yeah, maybe it is. I remember a family from the same network of churches that my dad worked for, and when we would travel through certain towns, instead of staying at hotels, we would stay at families that work for these churches to save money and have community. And one of the families we'd always stop at, they had an Atari. And I remember that was my some of my earliest memories of playing video games was just trying to beat these really difficult levels. Almost to the point where you didn't think about whether you beat the level or not. It was more just about playing what was on the screen over and over again. Right. It's a very different mentality than I think what the purpose feels like behind playing a game now. That's a really good episode idea, though. Because a lot of people Yeah, actually, that's a thing we really need to do. We need to create a master list of topics that we can always just update, manage, pull from, maybe make it a Google Sheet so that we're always able to jot things into it. I was thinking about that during my walk earlier today, that there's things we could do so that we don't lose as many of our good ideas as we do. Right. But the final idea about why I wanted to talk about Ocarina of Time is of course it's a nostalgic game for me. It's one of the top three games that show up in the gamer's journey to help me explain different things. I've always said that my trinity of games to look at to understand where I'm coming from is Final Fantasy. C7, Ocarina of Time, and Kingdom Hearts. That those are the three where I had to make sure that I didn't overuse them every single chapter of the book. I deliberately went through the book and made sure some chapters did not have all three of those in it because I wanted the book to have variety in the game structures that I was talking about. But Ocarina of Time is a masterpiece, and it's also a game that people our age, maybe not your age, based on your life experience, but gamers that are not in their teenage years probably haven't played very much, or if they have, they've played the Nintendo N64 retro arcade version, which has the ability to rewind the game and try again instantly. And that's fine, but I think when you remove the struggle from a game and just make it an instant win, it lowers the nostalgic potential of the game. But also you're playing games that look so amazing now, it's probably hard to appreciate the style of game that it was, even though it is one of those games that when you talk to geek therapists, and it's like, why did you want to get involved in a therapy type that's so positive about video games? And or why'd you go get your doctorate? Or why did you go decide you wanted to get a master's and help people? And there's just a that game is not just important because it was fun, it's an amazing story. It's one of the first games where I could really tell there's a hero's journey structure to it. There's an insane connection between I'm a geek therapist, and one of the games that really changed me early in life was Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time. There's or Majora's Mask, because Majora's Mask hits those trauma notes really well. But there's just something about it. Everyone in the Geek Therapeutics community I've talked to has these really fond memories of playing that Zelda game. And I think that if that gets translated even close for people that are younger that are playing games on their Switch too and expecting games to look a certain way, it could be a life-changing game for a lot of people. It really could. It will definitely expose people to the stages of the hero's journey. It's just the classic formula, just like the Odyssey is the classic formula of that method of storytelling. So that's a lot of fun opportunities for us and for things that I do inside the gaming persona, outside of the gaming persona, to try to show people the value of that narrative flow that video games give us. There is one more topic I wanted to hit that ties into this nostalgia is next year is when Ocarina of Times remake comes out, but the remake of Final Fantasy VII is going to be a trilogy. The first two games are already out, and the third part is coming out. So in one calendar year, unless there's huge delays to both games, in one calendar year, we're gonna end up having conclusive remakes of two of the biggest video games to ever be created. And both from the middle nineties of years coming back into the middle 2020s. I'm excited. During college, it was intense. I could tell you how many days until Revenge of the Sith. I don't do that anymore. But I'm really feeling that way about these two games. Oh man, it's gonna be great.

SPEAKER_02 26:17

Sounds again, it wow, I've got like five thoughts trying to come out all

What Remakes Should Preserve

SPEAKER_02 26:26

at the same time. That doesn't work well. Do it with the with with games like that coming out or being re-released, being updated for graphics, you know, is it is is it that important? Is it gonna be that much of an improvement over the the originals? You know, is it opening up the experience and the story to a new audience? I mean, you know, like I said, the Ocarina of Time came out 30 years ago. So at this point, you know, there are parents now who have played the game who are having kids who are going to play it on a newer generation console. Will anything be lost in the translation? What you know, what is is there an expectation other than oh, it's doing good or it's awesome because I want to I want to get it on the newest console, or will it be a letdown? You know, what's the what's the the is there the nostalgia of this is how it was originally? Appreciate what it was and and the lessons it taught.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

In

Final Fantasy VII And Defying Fate

SPEAKER_00 27:43

the Final Fantasy games, the first two have addressed that in a way that this is a retelling of the story on a different timeline that is destined to play out the same way. But the PS1 game has already happened. It's happened before in a different segment of a multiverse. So it plays into this question of can you change fate? It's a very meta retelling of the game. I don't expect The Legend of Zelda to do that because it almost requires a philosophy degree or something to really understand what Final Fantasy VII is doing. And I don't think those games are being made for kids or even teenagers. I think the people who are gonna get the most out of it are the fans of the original. But I do think a lot of people who've never played the original are getting introduced to the characters and the setting and the story. And maybe it's okay for them to not notice all those fate nods, but when you're fighting the whispers, and the whispers are these beings that they look like a misty smoke in a robe flying through the air, a misty robe that a dementor? Like a dementor, yeah. It's blocking people from doing things that would undermine the integrity of what happened in the original. So there's a scene, I guess. Spoiler warning for Final Fantasy VII Remake, there's a scene near the end of part one where Sephiroth shows up and he's not been in very much of the game, and the parts of the game he's been in, he's the villain of the story, and he has a very long samurai sword. And he's been defeated before because the first time through the game has happened, and he is aware. You don't really understand what he's aware of, but he's experimenting with his surroundings, like, oh, I've lost to these guys before. Let me try something. And this is all in his head, and you don't hear him say it, but he just walks up to one of the party members and stabs him through the chest, and that party member does not die in the original. It was shocking. Because for minutes you're like, oh my gosh, Sephiroth just killed that guy. The whispers float into the room and they undo the wound. And they say, What just happened? Sephiroth can't kill him. But he tried because he's trying to learn what are the rules of this existence. Why are we redoing this story again? And that theme continues to play out across the two installments that are out already, and I'm really excited what the third part is going to end up like, because it could retell all the same final battles, but the title they chose is Final Fantasy VII Revelation, and Revelation is the final book of the Bible. I I it tells of the end times and the final battle between the forces of good and evil in that religious tradition. I wonder if there's a way to take the original ending of Final Fantasy VII and up the ante to where the stakes between the balance of good and evil, fate and destiny, versus agency and the ability to choose your fate and fight for something better than what's forced on you. I wonder if there's a way to amplify that to where it's deity level warfare, like astronomical proportions. I don't expect Final Fantasy VII's re-trilogy conclusion to be the same as the end of the original game. Except for the good guys are gonna win. As long as the skill of the person holding the controller is good enough. That's so much. I'm so excited just thinking about how that story is gonna end. It's in such a good place. Like, I can't wait to see what happens with Zelda. I can't wait to see how we get to say goodbye to Cloud Tifa, Barrett, and the rest of the crew of Avalanche. Yeah. It's just we're in a really cool place. But there are also there has to be games that are new games that are coming out, they're gonna be great.

GTA Curiosity And Weekly Plans

SPEAKER_00 33:08

There's gonna be so many people at the end of this year, they're gonna be going crazy about Grand Theft Auto 6. Have you ever played a Grand Theft Auto? I have not. I've watched a plenty of them. I haven't either. Okay. Yeah, me either. But maybe I should try DTA 5 as just like a weekend excursion sometime after I finish my book chapters in September, just to try it out. Yeah, maybe. At that point, people aren't gonna be showing up to watch the game. They'd be coming to see me try to figure out the game, right? Because everyone who's watching for the game already has their streamers. Probably. But if I like it, everybody that is trying to earn money from their stream channel is probably gonna try GTA 6 at the end of the year. I'm sure. Plus, it's got that Florida energy that I need to just embrace better because that's where I'm at. They pull Florida Man into it? What? Maybe they do, but I'm sure they said Vice City is Miami. It's gonna have that vibe, I'm sure. Now I'm looking at the timer instead of the clock, and everything makes sense. So yes.

SPEAKER_02 34:47

We have run the course, we have finally made it to the end of our regularly scheduled program.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

Before we go, what are you planning to play this week, Doritos?

SPEAKER_02 34:57

Oh, I'll continue to play Soul Tour. I may dabble in Baldur's Gate a little bit here, a little bit there, but mostly I'm gonna be getting ready for our family tabletop time as uh the school year is about to start. We're gonna be kicking off the next installment of a character story arc that I'm concocting.

SPEAKER_00 35:19

Very cool. I'm going to be pushing deeper into Persona 3 reload. And if I get the chance to do my streaming schedule, we're gonna get deeper into Tomb Raider Definitive Edition. And then I'm gonna have to upload a couple new resources that I've created into Patreon, and I'm also going to need to start finishing the course I'm building for Kinebridge right now and work on my chapters for the next Leyline Publishing books. So I got a full plate, but I really want to work through those games too, because Persona 3 has been a you should play this for so many years, and it'll be nice to it'll

Sign Off And Next Week

SPEAKER_00 36:15

be nice to knock that one off of the backlog. Even though it's the remake and not the original, but it's the same story, so I'm gonna give myself a win on that one when I get there. Alright, everybody, remember thoughts and prayers for Marcus's computer. And enjoy your games, and we'll see you next week. Continue the journey.