Screenwriter Aaron Stewart-Ahn joins a panel guest hosted by Esper to cover the current definition of “good graphics,” Nicholas Cage’s sublime beauty, and seeing Attack of the Clones on acid.
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SHOW NOTES:
Fenrir
Light Cycle
Tron (1982)
Kingdom Hearts II
Tron
Honda Motocompo
Shadows of the Damned
Mandy (2018)
Yaiba Kusanagi CT-3X
Cyberpunk 2077
Keanu Reeves
Arch Motorcycle
Alex Winter
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
Gran Turismo
Polyphony Digital
Tourist Trophy: The Real Riding Simulator
Road Rash
Sega Saturn
Sony Playstation
3DO
Full Throttle
1: Where are your favorite places to hang out in open world video games? (06:20)
Throne and Liberty
Fallout 76
The First Descendant
World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade
Honor Hold
Arator the Redeemer
Final Fantasy XIV Online
Ryū ga Gotoku / Like a Dragon / Yakuza universe
Boyhood (2014)
Kamurochō
Shenmue
Slitterhead
2: When is it most obvious that zero research went into a particular video game scene? (15:15)
Starfield
Astral Lounge
Mass Effect series
GoldenEye 007
Far Cry series
Motor Toon Grand Prix
3: Design a video game where the main hero is played by Nicolas Cage. (20:54)
Nicholas Cage
Superman 64
Dead By Daylight
Leon Kennedy
Leatherface
Tekken series
Stanislavski's system
Mortal Kombat series
Avery Brooks
Shun Di
Virtua Fighter series
John Barrymore
Charlie Chaplin
Buster Keaton
Akuma
M. Bison
4: Design a video game where the main villain is played by Nicolas Cage. (25:16)
Pig (2021)
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Death Stranding 2 On The Beach
Hideo Kojima
Dan Brown
Weezer
Cats (2019)
Megalopolis (2024)
Kendrick Lamar
Shroud of Turin
Robert De Niro
The Devil’s Advocate (1997)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Legend (1985)
Tim Curry
Constantine (2005)
5: Spencer asks, what are games biggest strengths as a medium? (30:56)
Street Fighter (1994)
Watchmen
Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny
Indika
'Sonic the Hedgehog 4' Gets 2027 Release Date
Call of Duty series
Half-Life 2
6: What do “good graphics” mean in 2025? (38:11)
Super Scaler
Indika
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy XV
OutRun
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
7: What is the Decemberists of video games? (44:46)
The Decemberists
Colin Meloy
Shrek 2 (2004)
Shoryuken
The Matrix (1999)
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Dark Souls series
Bloodborne
Fleetwood Mac
Kate Bush
King's Field
Devil May Cry series
LIGHTNING ROUND: Name Design – Czech New Wave Classics (49:37)
Credit Report (57:01)
Recommendations and Outro (57:24):
Ash: Dynasty Warriors: Origins, Three Kingdoms
Brandon: And Give My Love to the Swallows (1972), Kin-dza-dza! (1986), exercise
Aaron: Rejection
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