Ep. 406 - Sextuple A, with Esper Quinn

Podcast Editor and Game Industry Analyst Esper Quinn joins the panel to cover why Silksong’s price doesn’t matter, what the A’s in AAAAA-Game stand for, and the Loudness War. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, Brandon Sheffield, and Esper Quinn. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

Watch episodes with full video on YouTube

Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

SHOW NOTES:

• GDQ
• Peanut Butter the Speedrunning Dog
• Ivan Drago
• “It’s a Russian taunt”
• Void Stranger
• Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Sid Meier’s Civilization V
• Magic: the Gathering
• The Sims 2
• Hyper Gunsport
• Gunhouse
• Demonschool
• Oh, Deer!

1: Ash Parrish asks: Frank, have you gotten to the ladder in Snake Eater? (06:34)

• Triangle Strategy
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
• Taylor Swift
• Cynthia Harrell
• Vincent Diamante

2: What is the hardest console, currently and historically, to develop video games for? (10:54)

• PlayStation 3
• Sega Saturn
• Atari Jaguar
• PlayStation
• Xbox 360
• Casio Loopy
• Atari 2600
• Nintendo Entertainment System
• Spacewar!
• Atari 7800
• Amiga
• Sega Dreamcast

3: What is the most common thing to change in a video game’s first sequel? (16:47)

• Borderlands 4
• Metroid series
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
• Resident Evil series
• Yakuza series
• Miles “Tails” Prower
• Miles Morales
• Sonic the Hedgehog series
• Pokemon series
• Klefki
• Sinistea
• Mimikyu
• Pikachu
• Pokemon Legends: Z-A
• Tandemaus
• Maushold
• Blue’s Clues
• The Spice Family

4: What do each of the A’s in Quintuple A stand for? (22:01)

• GTA 6 Is The First “AAAAA Game,” Industry Veteran Says
• Grand Theft Auto VI
• Devolver Digital
• Hot Coffee
• XTC - Making Plans For Nigel
• Blazing Saddles (1974)
• Mel Brooks
• Richard Pryor

5: Anonymous asks, why do so few indie games share their price before launch? (28:17)

• Borderlands 4 turns off your brain and turns on the fun
• In Silksong, spite is my motivation to keep playing

6: What is the main reason someone will buy a video game? (34:51)

• The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
• The Toys That Built America
• Frank on the History Channel with the subtitle “This is epic.”
• Fortnite
• Minecraft
• Trojan Vision
• Mystery Science Theater 3000
• G4

LIGHTNING ROUND: Clown Car (42:30)

Recommendations and Outro (48:51):

• Brandon: Final Draft if you want to watch a bad competition show, release Tracie Spencer’s Naturelle album from 1993 if you work for Capitol Records
• Ash: Great British Bake-Off, Wildcard Kitchen
• Frank: Antiques Roadshow
• Jaffe: Esper Quinn is available for audio and video editing services
• Esper: Alex Jaffe is available for hosting and voice acting services, follow my partner and love of nine years Ripley, don’t watch Big Brother

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

This week’s horrible buzzer was sent in by Matt McNeely. Thanks! To submit your own horrible buzzer, send an original recording no longer than two seconds in mp3 or wav format to [email protected], and maybe we’ll use it on the show!

Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!