Triple Click
Video games: They’re serious business! Except when they’re not serious at all. Each week on Triple Click, video game experts Kirk Hamilton, Maddy Myers, and Jason Schreier journey into the fascinating world of games. They’ll explore hot topics in video game news and culture, answer burning listener questions, debate the pros and cons of the biggest new games, and replay old classics together.
Episodes
Eight years after it first came out, Stardew Valley is still getting patches. But what's the deal with this one-man-developed farming simulator? How was it created, and what makes it so appealing? Allow us to explain!
One More Thing:
Kirk: Children of the Sun (Steam)
Maddy: Wingspan (board game version)
Jason: Fallout (Amazon Prime)
LINKS:
Search Engine: “What are we gonna do about all these cats?” https://pjvogt.substack.com/p/whatre-we...
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 fo...
What is "friction" in video games? We've got a taxonomy, of course! This week, the Triple Click gang talks about how Dragon Dogma 2 tries to push players away, the necessity of video game friction, and what it means when a game is impenetrable.
One More Thing:
Kirk: Girls5Eva (Netflix)
Maddy: The Holdovers (2024)
Jason: Secrets of Grindea
LINKS:
Triple Click LIVE in LA! Saturday, June 8, 6:30PM at the Teagram Ballroom: https://teragramba...
Balatro is one of the best games of 2024 so far — and certainly the most addictive. This week, the Triple Click gang dives into the new poker roguelike and dissects what makes it so great. They talk about the three phases of Balatro players, the appeal of randomness, and the thrill of this game's parade of interesting decisions.
One More Thing:
Kirk: Dragon’s Dogma 2
Maddy: Princess Peach Showtime!
Jason: The Last Murder at the End of ...
Happy MaxFunDrive! This week, the Triple Click gang opens up the mailbag and takes some listener questions: Are libraries ethical? How bad will ads in video games get? And when does a game developer know if it's time to cancel a project?
One More Thing:
Kirk: FF7 Rebirth Piano Minigame & Music Notation
Maddy: Shogun
Jason: Dragon’s Dogma 2
LINKS:
Hearthstone’s Ben Brode on Search Engine: https://pjvogt.substack.com/p/how-do-you-make-an-a...
Jason, Maddy, and Kirk pull up their strategem monitors and dive into Helldivers 2. They share their favorite memeable moments, talk about the game's unique story, and dive into what does and doesn't work about the hit new game.
One More Thing:
Kirk: Home Safety Hotline (PC)
Maddy: The Insurrectionist Next Door (2023)
Jason: Unicorn Overlord (Current Consoles)
LINKS:
Featuring Johan Lindgren’s Helldivers 2 theme
Joel the game master: http...
Kirk, Maddy, and Jason travel back in time and make their way up Mt. Nibel for a deeper look at the stellar Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, a game about traveling the world and playing animal soccer.
One More Thing:
Kirk: Our Last Best Hope (Magpie Games)
Maddy: True Detective: Night Country (Max)
Jason: The Dynasty (by Jeff Benedict)
LINKS:
Preorder Jason’s Book! https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jason-schreier/play-nice/9781538725429...
Kirk, Maddy, and Jason return to the world of buster swords and moogles to hunt Sephiroth, trying not to get too distracted by all the minigames along the way. It's time for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the sequel to Final Fantasy VII Remake. How good is it? Let's discuss!
One More Thing:
Kirk: Oppenheimer in 70mm
Maddy: True Detective S3
Jason: Balatro
LINKS:
Preorder Jason’s Book! https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jason-schreier/p...
Xbox recently announced plans to bring four games to PlayStation and Switch. But why? What's Microsoft's gaming strategy? And why are they even bothering to keep selling consoles? The Triple Click gang discusses.
One More Thing:
Kirk: Helldivers 2 (PS5, PC)
Maddy: Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World (Naomi Klein)
Jason: Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect (Benjamin Stevenson)
LINKS:
Preorder Jason’s Book! https://www.hachettebookg...
It's time to analyze roguelikes — the latest trend sweeping games from God of War to The Last of Us — as Kirk, Jason, and Maddy get ready to dive into a dungeon full of random levels, cool weapons, and permadeath.
One More Thing:
Kirk: Scavenger’s Reign (Max)
Maddy: King of the Hill
Jason: Super Bowl 58
LINKS:
“Grounded II: The Making of The Last of Us Part 2”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SC3C7GMMfDU
Preorder Jason’s Book! https://ww...
The Triple Click gang takes a look at Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the latest game from Rocksteady Studios and a new entry into the oversaturated "live service" market. They talk about why publishers love service games, superhero fatigue, and how this new Suicide Squad game came to be.
One More Thing:
Kirk: Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2024) (Amazon Prime)
Maddy: True Detective S2 (HBO)
Jason: Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of...
Xbox laid off nearly two thousand people last week. Before that, Riot laid off hundreds more. Why does this keep happening, and how does it affect people's lives? This week, Jason, Kirk, and Maddy talk about the video game layoff epidemic and try to pinpoint the causes and effects.
One More Thing:
Kirk: One Piece (Netflix)
Maddy: True Detective S1-S2
Jason: Cultish (Amanda Montell)
LINKS:
Ezra Klein on the hollowing out of media: https:/...
We have no objections to Ace Attorney, Capcom's brilliant series about lawyers attacking each other with dangerous weapons. To celebrate this week's release of the Apollo Justice collection (aka: Ace Attorney 4-6), the gang explains why this adventure game series is so appealing, from the zany courtroom antics to the truly absurd animations.
One More Thing:
Kirk: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Maddy: Tiny Shoulders: Re...
Less than three weeks into 2024, we've already discovered what will likely be one of the year's best games: Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which the gang is loving. Maddy, Jason, and Kirk talk about the new game's satisfying platforming, the time-twisting story, and how it feels a whole lot like Hollow Knight.
One More Thing:
Kirk: Guitar Zero: The Science of Becoming Musical at Any Age by Gary Marcus
Maddy: Liftoff by Ca...
Jason, Maddy, and Kirk open up the mailbag to answer listener questions on all sorts of things. Why do games like Skull & Bones languish in development hell forever? What makes Chants of Sennaar such a bad name? And, uh, what's the best investment advice?
One More Thing:
Kirk: Fargo Seasons 4 and 5 (FX/Hulu)
Maddy: A Little To The Left
Jason: I hate advertisements
LINKS:
Reddit Personal Finance https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wi...
What will this next year bring? And what does it mean for gaming? Kirk, Maddy, and Jason go over last year's predictions to see who won the big bet, then throw down some hot new declarations for what's to come in 2024.
One More Thing:
Kirk: Learning to Play Piano When There Is No Recital, by Kelsey McKinney
Maddy: Dark Souls
Jason: Ace Attorney 4: Apollo Justice
LINKS:
Chris Dahlen’s excellent 2012 essay about Dark Souls: https://kotaku....
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 ...
Jason, Maddy and Kirk take on the clickers once more in this spoiler-filled discussion of HBO's hit adaptation of The Last of Us.
LINKS
Kirk's 2013 article about the game's ending
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/tr...
Kirk, Jason, and Maddy determine who won last week's award predictions before jumping into a jam-packed episode full of hot news and video games. They talk about The Game Awards, the GTA VI reveal, and the cancellation of E3, then talk about games like Avatar, Fortnite, and God of War Ragnarok's new Valhalla DLC, plus much more.
One More Thing:
Kirk: GPT4
Maddy: Amsterdam (2022)
Jason: Eiyuden Chronicles
LINKS:
Featuring excerpts from “L...
The Triple Click Trio takes on The Game Awards: Who will win? Who'll get snubbed? What's an Action/Adventure game, again? Also, the hosts make some predictions!
One More Thing:
Kirk: Jusant
Maddy: Chants of Sennar
Jason: Going Infinite (Michael Lewis)
LINKS:
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://di...
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