video games

It's the 200th episode of Triple Click, and to celebrate, it's time for a mailbag! The gang answers listener questions such as "could we ever see gambling in video games?" and "are games really a waste of time?"

One More Thing:

Kirk: “Behind F1’s Velvet Curtain” by Kate Wagner 

Maddy: Sailor Moon

Jason: The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett

LINKS:

“Behind F1’s Velvet Curtain” by Kate Wagner, preserved in archive form: https://web.archive.org/web/20240301170542/https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a46975496/behind-f1-velvet-curtain/ and at Escape Collective: https://escapecollective.com/behind-f1s-velvet-curtain/

Triple Click LIVE in LA! Saturday, June 8, 6:30PM at the Teagram Ballroom: https://teragramballroom.com/tm-event/triple-click-podcast/

Preorder Jason’s Book! https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jason-schreier/play-nice/9781538725429/

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Triple Click Ethics Policy: 

https://maximumfun.org/triple-click-ethics-policy/

Video games get a bad rap -- but the right games can be a tool to reach kids and teach them important social emotional and academic skills. Susan Rivers, PhD, chief scientist at the nonprofit iThrive Games, talks about how to design games that are both entertaining and educational, what kinds of skills kids can learn through gaming and how parents can balance screen time concerns with recognizing the important role games play in their kids’ lives.

For transcripts, links and more information, please visit the Speaking of Psychology Homepage.

It is time once again for that wonderful annual tradition: the best video games of 2023. 

One More Thing:

Kirk: Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation (Kevin Roose, 2021)

Maddy: Pit Bulls and Parolees

Jason: Dredge

LINKS:

Jason’s piece on the Insomniac hack: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-12-22/playstation-employees-at-insomniac-studio-fear-identity-theft-after-massive-hack

Featuring soundtrack excerpts from Jusant, Hi-Fi Rush, Alan Wake 2, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder

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GAMES OF THE YEAR

Jason

1. Octopath Traveler 2
2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
3. Baldur’s Gate 3
4. Chants of Sennaar
5. Super Mario Bros. Wonder
6. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
7. Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
8. Spider-Man 2
9. Diablo IV
10. Case of the Golden Idol DLC

Kirk

1. Jusant
2. Dredge
3. Lies of P
4. Hi-Fi Rush
5. Alan Wake 2
6. Baldur's Gate 3
7. Chants of Sennar
8. Cyberpunk 2077 2.0
9. Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
10. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Maddy

1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
2. Alan Wake 2
3. Baldur's Gate 3
4. Metroid Prime Remastered
5. Venba
6. Dredge
7. Chants of Sennaar
8. Cocoon
9. Dead Space
10. Super Mario Wonder

Derek is the fitness educator and entrepreneur behind the "More Plates, More Dates" YouTube channel, podcast and companion website. 
https://moreplatesmoredates.com

This week, TikTok parent ByteDance said it’s retreating from mainstream video games altogether. Earlier this year, Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, a game that has had more than 400 million “unique registered users” since its 2017 launch, announced hundreds of layoffs as well. They’re just some examples of the wave of layoffs hitting game companies around the globe. Marketplace’s Lily Jamali spoke with Los Angeles Times reporter Sarah Parvini, who covers the video game sector. In a piece just last week, she wrote that the industry is deep in downsizing mode.

Maddy, Jason, and Kirk open up the mailbag and pull out some of your hottest questions. What's the best way to get kids into gaming? What minor video game mechanics could be expanded to full games? And what should the Switch 2 launch lineup look like?

One More Thing:

Kirk: The Making of Karateka

Maddy: Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Jason: Chants of Sennaar

LINKS:

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Triple Click Ethics Policy: https://maximumfun.org/triple-click-ethics-policy/

Matt Walsh plays Call of Duty Modern Warfare for the first time ever.

Try Hallow for 3 months FREE: https://hallow.com/mattwalsh

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It's the very first TRIPLE CLICK LIVE!!! From the Bell House in Brooklyn, Jason, Kirk, and Maddy talk about... well, what else? The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Plus: live Q&A and live One More Things.

One More Thing: 

Kirk: Somebody, Somewhere S2

Maddy: Monitor arms

Jason: Bojack Horseman

LINKS:

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The Triple Click gang offers some early impressions on the new game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, then dives into a brief history of Star Wars games. When were they good? When weren't they? And what makes for the best kind of Star Wars game these days? Plus: Jason played Tears of the Kingdom!

One More Thing: 

Kirk: The Last House on Needless Street (Catriona Ward, 2021)

Maddy: Blank Check podcast archives

Jason: Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Links: 

Jason’s 2015 story on the death of LucasArts: https://kotaku.com/how-lucasarts-fell-apart-1401731043

Triple Click LIVE IN BROOKLYN, May 18th: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/triple-click-live-tickets-513213584647

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Triple Click Ethics Policy: https://maximumfun.org/triple-click-ethics-policy/

We weren’t planning to talk about Twitter today, but here we are! We’re rereading a story from late last year about the folks who helped Elon Musk buy Twitter and the ways that what’s happened to Twitter since then may align with the desires of those backers. And what will replace Twitter for building the influence of its users … like journalists? We’ll also talk about an alarming story from The Washington Post about a GOP lawyer’s ideas to limit voting in key battleground states like Wisconsin. And we look at indicators that life (and the economy) is returning to a pre-pandemic normal for some. Plus, a round of Half Full / Half Empty featuring ChatGPT’s “Seinfeld.”

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• • “Top GOP lawyer decries ease of campus voting in private pitch to RNC” from The Washington Post

• • “Twitter Frees Its Hostages” from New York magazine

• • “NYC Subway Ridership Hits 4 Million For the First Time Since March 2020” from Bloomberg

• • “Governor Hochul Announces Subway Ridership Surpasses 4 Million Riders in Single Day” from New York state website

• • “More movies, more variety, more money: The box office is catching up to pre-Covid levels” from CNBC

• • “You can pay your taxes in cash — if you’re up for the challenge” from Marketplace

• • “Reddit to start charging AI companies for data” from Marketplace

• • “Employers rely on internships as a recruiting tool in tight labor market” from Marketplace

• • “Rising restaurant prices aren’t stopping Americans from ‘revenge dining'” from Marketplace

• • “Streaming changed the Hollywood landscape. Now its writers are voting to go on strike” from NPR

• • Tweet from @EdKrassen on ChatGPT’s “Seinfeld” episode

If you’ve got a question about the economy, business or technology, let us know. We’re at makemesmart@marketplace.org, or leave us a message at 508-U-B-SMART.

Octopath Traveler II has gotten Jason thinking of a brand new taxonomy... the two types of video game. This week, the gang talks about flow vs. thought, JRPG story-telling, the brilliance of Octopath Traveler II (and how it out-classes the first game), and mysteries in Metroid Prime, Elden Ring, and so much more.

One More Thing: 

Kirk: Cocaine Bear

Maddy: Robocop

Jason: Tracers in the Dark by Andy Greenberg

Links: 

Tell us why you like Triple Click! Email memberstories@maximumfun.org or leave us a message at (323) 601-8719. 

Triple Click LIVE IN BROOKLYN, May 18th: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/triple-click-live-tickets-513213584647

Featuring excerpts from Yasunori Nishiki’s Octopath Traveler 2 score 

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Triple Click Ethics Policy: 

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And now for a subject near and dear to our hearts: Romance! Maddy, Kirk, and Jason talk about video game love stories and which games do them right (and wrong), from Mass Effect to Uncharted to Hatoful Boyfriend. Can a video game romance ever really work if it's based on dialogue options? Plus: impressions of the new Square Enix game Forspoken!

One More Thing: 

Kirk: Star Wars Imperial Assault: Legends of the Alliance (2017)

Maddy: Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris

Jason: Forspoken

Links:

Triple Click LIVE IN BROOKLYN, May 18th: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/triple-click-live-tickets-513213584647

Support Triple Click: http://maximumfun.org/join

Buy Triple Click Merch: https://maxfunstore.com/search?q=triple+click&options%5Bprefix%5D=last

Join the Triple Click Discord: http://discord.gg/tripleclickpod

Triple Click Ethics Policy: https://maximumfun.org/triple-click-ethics-policy/