Author and journalist Kieron Gillen joins the panel to cover the golden age of games journalism, Squaresoft’s 1996 SNES licensed X-Men JRPG, and the mysterious Hat Man. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, Brandon Sheffield, and Kieron Gillen. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

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  Riders on the Storm
  


• 
  Ghost Riders in the Sky
  


• 
  The Doors
  


• 
  Ghost Rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance (2011)
  


• 
  Mutant
  


• 
  Amiga Power
  


• 
  Eisner Awards
  


• 
  Hugo Award
  


• 
  Amiga
  


• 
  Mister Sinister
  

1: What’s the difference between game culture and comics culture? (04:44 )

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  Jack Kirby
  


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  Twine
  


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  Al Ewing
  


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  Marvel Cinematic Universe
  


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  Gamergate (harassment campaign)
  


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  Sad Puppies
  


• 
  Jim Rossignol
  

2: In tabletop game design, how do you make a game that allows players to do anything, while maintaining a unique identity? (10:03 )

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  Mörk Borg
  


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  OSR
  


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  Dungeons & Dragons
  


• 
  Baldurs Gate III
  


• 
  Baldur’s Gate 3 is a masterpiece built on a bad tabletop game
  

3: What’s the closest a video game has come to ruining your life? (17:19 )

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  World of Warcraft
  


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  World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade
  


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  Clash of Clans
  


• 
  Princess Pajama
  


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  Infinity Nikki
  


• 
  Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2
  


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  Sonic Advance 3
  


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  Nintendo Official Magazine UK
  


• 
  Circuit City
  


• 
  World of WarCraft: Wrath of the Lich King
  


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  MUSH
  


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  Space Invaders
  


• 
  The Sims Online
  


• 
  Grand Theft Auto IV
  

4: The year is 1996. Squaresoft wants you to design their final game for the SNES, a licensed X-Men RPG. What have you got? (27:22 )

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  Squaresoft
  


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  Super Nintendo Entertainment System
  


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  X-Men
  


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  Image Comics
  


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  Jim Lee
  


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  X-Men 2: Clone Wars
  


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  X-Men: The Animated Series
  


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  Storm
  


• 
  Rise of the Robots
  


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  Wolverine
  


• 
  Princess Maker
  


• 
  Charles Xavier
  


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  Final Fantasy
  


• 
  Sentinel
  


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  Spider-Man
  


• 
  The Punisher: The Ultimate Payback!
  


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  Days of Future Past
  


• 
  Chrono Trigger
  


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  Callisto
  


• 
  Marrow
  


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  Giant-Size X-Men
  


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  Cyclops
  


• 
  Colossus
  


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  Thunderbird
  


• 
  Jean Grey
  

5: PersonalMatthew asks, how important is it that someone writing about videogames be “good” at videogames? (34:33 )

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  Madden
  


• 
  DLSS
  


• 
  Digital Trends
  


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  Kimimi The Game-Eating She-Monster
  


• 
  Demonschool
  


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  Final Fantasy Tactics
  


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  Persona
  


• 
  Shin Megami Tensei
  

6: What was the golden age of video game journalism? (40:53 )

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  Spider-Man 3
  


• 
  Mad Men
  


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  PC Gamer
  


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  Tomb Raider
  


• 
  Rock Paper Shotgun
  

LIGHTNING ROUND: High Scoring (47:22 )

Recommendations and Outro (57:22 ):

• 
  Kieron: The Power Fantasy, We Called Them Giants
  


• 
  Frank: Go read Kieron’s comics


• 
  Brandon: If you’re feeling cold tuck your shirt into your pants, Manga documentary 1982, The Great Cleric if you want some extremely mid anime, follow Brandon on Bluesky
  


• 
  Ash: Game Changers on HBO Max

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