The Insert Credit Show

Editor and media critic Esper Quinn joins Ash and Brandon in answering more questions from the insert credit forum. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with 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: For All Mankind “Ryu ga gotoku the polls” forums.insertcredit.com Insert Credit Flavored Questions that are too stupid for the Dirtbag 1: marurun asks, who is the most pointlessly bland fighting game character? Moreso than “guy in a karate gi”. (03:17) Divekick Goiken Muyou: Anarchy in the Nippon Fighting Vipers Comix Zone Streets of Rage series Super Smash Bros. series Fire Emblem series 2: ana asks, what’s the most common hidden gem? (05:55) Rupee Celeste Cult of the Lamb Deltarune NiGHTS into Dreams… Radiant Silvergun Panzer Dragoon Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks 3: yeso asks, has anyone ever cried at one of the Leisure Suit Larry death scenes? (07:48) Leisure Suit Larry series Omegaverse Ron Jeremy Pamela Anderson Carmen Elektra Maxim 4: SteveWithaB asks, is it time to retire the term “gamer”? (11:06) Call of Duty series Halo series 5: Tradegood asks, if Xbox is Mountain Dew and Doritos, and Nintendo is Coca-Cola and Pringles, what is Sony? (13:40) Xbox Mountain Dew Doritos Nintendo Coca-Cola Pringles Sony Pepsi Lay’s Black & Mild Blunt Bong Candy cigarette Dr Pepper Sega Jaguar RC Cola Konami Amiga Dreamcast Ramune Hamburger French fries 6: Death_Strandicoot asks, who should be the first recipient of the Nobel Prize for Video Games? (16:16) The Hague Geoff Keighley David Cage Shigeru Miyamoto Mario Pac-Man Pong 7: Mnemogenic asks, how would you adapt a 10 yen game into a big budget AAA video game? (18:24) 10 yen coin Call of Ponchy : Mahjong Warfare Frogger Dragon Quest Web3 8: Taliesin_Merlin asks, design an Amy Rose video game based on one of the following novel premises. (20:41) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo I, Robot The Name of the Rose I, Claudius I, Tonya (2017) The Name of the Rose (1986) The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog Sonic and the Black Knight Lollipop Chainsaw 9: Tom asks, what are the seven basic game genres? (23:33) The Seven Basic Plots 10: mtvcribs asks, what happened to thong-era final fantasy (26:19) Final Fantasy X-2 Final Fantasy XIII Tetsuya Nomura Final Fantasy XV Cindy Aurum Final Fantasy XIV Online Final Fantasy XVI Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin Clive Rosfield Jon Snow Game of Thrones 11: mack41 asks, is Google Maps cop warning alert a strand game? (29:07) Death Stranding Dark Souls series 12: beets asks, if you were going to make a table from videogame hardware, what would you use? (30:53) BattleTech pod Xbox One PlayStation 2 Logan Paul 13: rootfifthoctave asks, is sega the company that gets the most “[not-sega game] feels like a [sega] game” comments spoken about it? (32:24) Soulslike Treasure Ubisoft Assassin’s Creed series Stardew Valley 14: KingTubb asks, how often do the following characters change their bed sheets: (35:11) Solid Snake Naked Snake Venom Snake Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Jack Bauer Liquid Snake Raiden Princess Peach Heavy Rain Harvest Moon series Deadly Premonition 15: PassionQuotient asks, what’s the video game equivalent of reading all of Shakespeare? What about James Joyce? (38:26) William Shakespeare James Joyce WarioWare series Dragon Quest series Final Fantasy series Geoffrey Chaucer Kingdom Hearts series Dune Atari 2600 16: Kiki asks, what’s Jollibee? (41:07) Jollibee Jollibee x FINAL FANTASY XIV Collaboration Campaign Watch_Dogs 2 17: YellerDog asks, what game is the most fun with the worst graphics? What game is the least fun with the best graphics? (42:58) Dwarf Fortress Rogue MindsEye Grand Theft Auto VI r/GamingLeaksAndRumours 18: adashtra asks, What is the “telling your puppy to stop biting your feet, but he’s so dang cute you don’t wanna yell at him” of video games? (45:20) Animal Crossing series LIGHTNING ROUND: Arcade of Our Own (48:58) Recommendations and Outro (01:05:42): Brandon: some of The Magnificent Seven sequels but not others, Possession (1981), microchip your animals Ash: Is God Is (2026) Esper: Esper Quinn’s Top 10 Hottest Games of 2025, Witch Hat Atelier, Absolute Wonder Woman, Fantastic Four, The Moon & Serpent Bumper Book of Magic Jaffe: Read Berserk at work This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

The finest minds in video games discuss flying in games, retaining players over the course of a series, and self-lubricating anuses. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. 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: Zencastr Power Rangers Sailor Scouts “Attention street operators! If you’re not operating Mr. Do!‘s Castle you don’t want to make money!” Mr. Do! Muenster Swiss Mozzarella Goat Cheddar Parmesan Macaroni and Chipotle Mexican Grill La Tur Humboldt Fog Tillamook Cottage Chocolate syrup 1: How do you make flight feel good? (05:48) Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War Earth Defense Force series Panzer Dragoon Wing Cap Steel Battalion Diamond Vince SkyGunner Superman 64 2: What makes a good shop theme? (10:22) Muzak QVC Earthbound - Buy Something Will Ya! Wii Shop Theme Kmart Persona 5 - Weapons Shop Demonschool - Shopping Jeopardy! Yoshi Super Mario World iMUSE Super Mario Bros. Super Mario Bros. 2 3: What are good ways games can reward you for playing the previous entry in a series? (16:48) BioWare Suikoden series Yakuza series Bob Utsunomiya Mass Effect series Sonic & Knuckles Metal Gear Solid series Resident Evil series Final Fantasy VII Remake series Silent Hill series Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Nier series 4: How could you “walk the room” giving a talk at a video game conference? (21:29) GDC Omegaverse Alpha and beta male Mpreg Supernatural Dark Angel Pon Farr 5: Yeso asks, what is the soda vs. pop of video games? (30:41) Soft drink Sega Ryu The Legend of Kage Ninja Gaiden Nintendo Entertainment System Final Fantasy VI Tidus Chocobo Mortal Kombat series Midway Games Toasty! Cow Clicker Mystery Science Theater 3000 Drew Carey Hydrocity Zone Sonic the Hedgehog series The Boss Baby (2017) City Escape GDQ 6: What’s the difference between a director and a lead designer in video games? (37:33) 7: What stats would you add to fighting game character bios? (40:14) Street Fighter II Maiden and married names Quentin Tarantino Guile Blanka Myspace Uptown Girl Star Search Mega Man series Pokemon series LIGHTNING ROUND: 21 Questions (45:51) Recommendations and Outro (01:06:31): Brandon: You can make watermelon gazpacho out of unripe or unflavorful watermelons, Alyzea, Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel (1979), Convoy Busters (1978), Mona Kimura Frank: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) if you want to just delete 2 hours of your life This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield cover GameStop making an offer for eBay, the hotness of the new StarFox designs, and dead rabbids. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. 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: Nail Bat Final Fantasy VII Die Hard (1988) Gotham City Jean-Paul Valley “Shilly-shally.” Oreo Hydrox TurboGrafx-16 1: GameStop isn’t gonna buy eBay, right? (08:56) GameStop eBay GameStop makes unsolicited bid to acquire online auction giant eBay for $56B GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen banned from eBay after takeover bid stunt Game Informer Sumo Fighter Mega Man 7 Video Game History Foundation Vintage Video Game Magazine Monthly Subscription FuncoLand Funko Relooted Bram Stoker’s Dracula Indiana Jones 2: What are the level 1 magic spells you want to make available to a player in a game? (14:00) Hang on. Is Indiana Jones’s hat a fedora? Indiana Jones: His Hats Explained Okay back to Question 2. Metroidvania 3: Are the Star Fox characters hotter now or not? (18:41) Nintendo announces new Star Fox for Nintendo Switch 2 The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) Falco Lombardi Garrus Vakarian Mass Effect series Vince Lombardi Doug Lombardi Nintendo confirms destruction of original Star Fox puppets The Amazing Digital Circus Five Nights at Freddy’s Kermit the Frog Krystal Waluigi Star Fox 64 Final Fantasy VII: Remake Sonic Adventure Rouge the Bat 4: Write five clues for a Jeopardy! video game category (24:18) Jeopardy! Pac-Man Donkey Kong Mega Man Mario Mario Luigi Mario Minecraft Steve PewDiePie Ninja Bonk J.J. & Jeff Hideo Kojima 5: LeFish asks, what is the best French thing in video games, and what is the best fish? (28:57) David Cage Freddi Fish series Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Ubisoft BioWare Montreal Dragon Age series Another World Rabbids Captain Ahab Super Mario World Seaman Leviathan Putt-Putt series James Pond series 6: What is a more useful aggregation tool: Metacritic, which averages scores, or Rotten Tomatoes, which averages positive vs. negative reviews? (33:53) Metacritic Rotten Tomatoes Star Wars series IMDb 7: What is the Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985) of video games? (37:10) Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985) The Groundlings Conker’s Bad Fur Day Diddy Kong Racing Pee-wee’s Playhouse Pee-wee Herman Bayonetta Tim Burton The Pee-wee Herman Show PlatinumGames Donkey Kong Country Tiptup Drumstick Wario WarioWare series Tingle Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland Irozuki Tincle no Koi no Balloon Trip The Frog for Whom the Bell Tolls LIGHTNING ROUND: User Reviews (43:14) Credit Corner (56:54) Recommendations and Outro (57:19): Brandon: The Sting (1973), Get Carter (1971) Frank: Rollick N’ Roll Ash: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Love and Deepspace This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

Our heroes share thoughts on twenty years of achievements, developers responding to player feedback, and whether nail bats count as blunt weapons. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman, episode art by Gilbert Smith. Watch episodes with full video on YouTube Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums SHOW NOTES: Busby Berkeley Bubsy Fatty Arbuckle “You’re like free pizza at an anime convention. She can smell you. And she wants to consume you.” Video Game History Foundation 1: When has the appeal of a popular game eluded you? (05:24) Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream Mad Libs The Sims series Hank Hill Bocchi Cards Against Humanity Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) Crimson Desert World of WarCraft Final Fantasy XIV Yakuza series Shenmue series The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Credit Report (11:40) Sega Taito The Ninja Kids Raz Karcy OverBlood Discord My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic 2: How have trophies and achievements impacted video games over the past 20 years? (13:39) Xbox 360 SiegfriedX Left 4 Dead 3: Let’s talk about that MindsEye DLC (20:21) MindsEye Polygon: I played the MindsEye DLC that was supposed to expose ‘sabotage’ and just got a painfully bad mission Tommy Wiseau The Room (2003) Grand Theft Auto series The Fall of Communism as Seen in Gay Pornography (1998) 4: Give me your dream video game blunt rotation (which is to say, three items to cycle through as blunt weapons in a video game) (25:31) Nail Bat Mace Ice cream sandwich EarthBound R.B.I. Baseball series Dragon Age: Inquisition Wedge of Destiny Undercover Cops The Boon of the Spoon 5: Issac asks, what makes a good sick game? (32:47) The Violence Island Gacha Gauntlet #1 Titanium Court Bejeweled Puzzle Quest The Talos Principle Portal Dragon Quest series Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask NieR The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Chutes and Ladders Ys series For the Frog the Bell Tolls Cookie’s Bustle 6: To what extent should a studio consider the feedback of their playerbase, and when should they ignore it? (39:34) BioWare Elden Ring Game Developer Magazine Telltale Games Sam & Max Downwell Overwatch 7: What is the realizing you’ve been to a restaurant too many times because the workers know who you are by sight of video games? (44:51) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Bonk’s Revenge Paradise Killer Dragon Age: The Veilguard LIGHTNING ROUND: Circle K Corral (51:11) Recommendations and Outro (59:34): Brandon: Def By Temptation (1990), Ooh Rap I Ya Ash: Actually don’t watch For All Mankind, Titanium Court, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty Frank: Eat a ton of shredded cabbage This week’s episode art was done by Gilbert Smith. Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

Your Insert Credit Panel discusses the future of Xbox, the difference between dad games and mom games, and weird little guys. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. 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: KEXP Italian AOC “This wild aura, man. Can’t let this go.” Falsetto 1: When are you convinced to go back to a particular game after putting it down? (02:51) Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Cronos: The New Dawn Red Dead Redemption II Deadwood Sega Genesis Sony PlayStation World of WarCraft Quest 64 Quest 64 Official The Ooze barleybap 2: Through video game history, how has the job of level designer evolved? (07:44) TUME Disney’s Aladdin Hirokazu Yasuhara Sonic the Hedgehog series Uncharted series Titanfall 2 Iwata Asks Legend of Zelda series Shigeru Miyamoto Takashi Tezuka 3: What are the differences between a dad game and a mom game? (12:59) Pragmata Cooking Mama Bayonetta Amnesia: Rebirth Super Metroid NieR NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… Stardew Valley The Sims Black & White Peter Molyneux You know it’s bad for AI when even Peter Molyneux, king of overpromising, is tepid on its use in game dev Grateful Dead Black Sabbath 4: Design a video game trilogy intended to grow up with the player base (19:39) Pokemon series Palworld Mewgenics! Final Fantasy XII Master Chief Game Freak NFT 5: Death_Strandicoot asks, is Xbox a third party now? Is there still a Big 3? (28:01) Halo: Campaign Evolved launches on PS5 ‘We Are Xbox’: read the memo defining Microsoft’s gaming future Developers, developers, developers Nintendo Sony Roblox Epic Fortnite Circana List of largest video game companies by revenue 6: What are some new ways to torture players in masocore games? (33:42) Masocore Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy QWOP Dark Souls Minecraft Marvel Rivals Jackass Virtual Boy Speedrunning 7: What is the McDonald’s Sprite of video games? (38:42) McDonalds Sprite Steam Deck LIGHTNING ROUND: GameFAQ&As - Roblox Mobile (43:51) Recommendations and Outro (49:51): Frank: apply for Video Game History Foundation’s Charity Development Coordinator if you meet the qualifications Ash: For All Mankind Brandon: Boogiepop Phantom, Ikarie XB-1 (1963), Baby Steps Developers React to 7 Minute Speedrun This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!