The Pixel Boys were short on time this week, so they recorded an extra-special lightning round! 30(ish) minutes of far too many games to list in a summary, but of course full topics list at pixelnoise.fm! Finally, the mini-topics list can rest clear...

The Pixel Bois have been listening to Bo Burnham’s INSIDE a whole bunch, and these songs take center stage in this episode. Dan took Tony’s advice and went caseless with his new iPhone, and got to A14 with The Watcher in Slay the Spire. Tony and Alex played the new Back4Blood with friends, and Tony streamed Star Wars Shadows of the Empire. Our review of Life is Strange Wavelengths was very short, as was our review of the N64 Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack (spoilers: they’re both broken).

Tony finished his first Pokémon game, and it was Emerald! Dan tried to enjoy a holiday weekend. Actually reading the game manual is considered. Alex leads a discussion of how hard skills and soft skills are applied in D&D, and talks about his recently completed first playthrough of Super Mario RPG. Tony and Alex finished Life is Strange True Colors, but Dan is still working on it. Alex finished Deltarune Chapter 2.

Dan’s been playing a lot of games recently! Tony and Dan played Deathloop, and had a lot to say about how it compared to Returnal and other roguelikes. Pixel Noise has a new stream !gamelist, which starts a conversation about what we find rewarding in games, collectibles, corner checking, and of course, genres. Tony thinks Pokémon is a weird RPG, Alex played Super Mario RPG, and Dan played Overcooked. Everyone’s played Life is Strange: True Colors, Alex reveals what he’s secretly been doing while recording the podcast, and we listened to INSIDE (The Songs).

Dan played some new games (The Plane Effect & When the Past was Around), & Alex played A Link to the Past. Alex and Tony went to IRL arcades, which spawns conversation about sports games and first impressions. Alex has been enjoying his retro streams, and Dan has not been enjoying being stuck at A19 in Slay the Spire. Tony poses the idea of game replayability varying at the platform level, and he reveals which Horizon Forbidden West launch edition he ordered. The Pixel Bois try to get excited about new games and GOTY, but hopes for this year are dim. Finally, they cap it off with a discussion about Bo Burnham’s INSIDE.

After a stark diversion last time, the Pixel Boys are back with more talk about TV, movies, and Dungeons & Dragons. After an opening conversation about Valve’s new Steam Deck, Alex reveals that he has been watching Schitt’s Creek, much to his co-hosts’ surprise. The rest of the episode is full of conversations on how D&D has evolved over time, the roles of storytelling and mechanics in the game, how it interacts with mix/maxing, and even how it can be used as a therapeutic tool. Oh, and there’s a new D&D themed Magic set.

In this unusual episode, the Pixel Boys figure out what communication is and how to do it, as well as the purpose of demographics and classifications. That's it. We solved it. Once and for all. You're welcome. [Kappa]. Also, we spend literally one minute talking about video games.

E3 2021! The Pixel Boys go over all the hits (except Ubisoft). Before that, Tony and Dan talk Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. Later, Alex and Tony discuss the new Blind Bingo stream format they came up with, the perils of trying and returning games, and the episode ends with an extra inning of crits in D&D. Oh, and Tony was here to kill chaos, but no one came...

Dan lost his Apple Watch to Adina’s zoomies, but the Pixel Boys have not lost their love for D&D. The dichotomy between improv and preparation in D&D is discussed, and there’s a juicy tangent into etymology and phonetics. Alex is using Discord as an organizational tool for some reason. Tony and Dan are playing Ratchet & Clank and Biomutant, respectively. This leads Tony to the new word “Newstalgia,” as a way to describe how a series he’s never played is giving him the nostalgic feels. The episode ends with a proclamation from Tony on Nintendo and New Pokémon Snap.

Tony and Dan hijack the start of the show to gush about the new Horizon Forbidden West gameplay trailer, then Alex veers us into Tony’s experience playing original Pokémon Snap (Tony’s thoughts will surprise you). Then, in true Pixel Noise fashion, we tangent quite heavily to the topic of bulleted and numbered lists, how they’re used, and what they’re for. The fundraiser for the Newburgh LGBTQ+ Center is discussed (link to donate below), and then Alex attempts to lightning round mini topics to clear them out. He is thwarted, however, by Dan and Tony having more involved thoughts on Biomutant and NieR Replicant. Finally, we learn Dan doesn’t like Square Enix for some reason.

The Pixel Boys played Dungeons and Dragons, and boy do they have a lot to say! The episode opens with a thought experiment involving latency in sound, then lots of D&D, and follow up on optimization vs. player choice. This leads to thoughts on the New Pokémon Snap, which Tony proposes is the “epitome of collectathons.” Alex relates this to puzzles hidden in “the machine” (meaning, the internet). Finally, Tony and Dan give their impressions of the latest PS5 exclusive, Returnal.

The show starts off with a PS5 update lightning round. Dan's solved his physical trophy problem and Alex's meme streams are discussed. Tony enjoyed Machinarium. Tony and Alex tried out a new stream format, and used it to start Witcher 3 and Spec Ops The Line for the first time. Confirmation dialogues in games are discussed, as well as Jeff Kaplan's resignation, leading into a discussion on public figures in media. The episode wraps with new thoughts on Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

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Linked show notes available at https://pixelnoise.fm/episodes/43

Tony and Alex played Return of the Obra Dinn and Dan is still playing Hades. Alex and Tony both started watching Game of Thrones, but their reasons and methods may surprise you. Alex peels back the curtain on his personal life, the Pixel Boys still have three rather different brains, and they still all despise exercising (Ring Fit Adventure follow up). Finally, Tony gives his thoughts on playing Spiritfarer co-op with Maria.

The Pixel Boys have an in-depth discussion on ratings and evaluating art. Also, the Foo Fighters made a new album, Dan got a PS5, and we revisit Astro’s Playroom and Among Us. Additionally, Alex follows up on the problems with the Skyrim lockpicking mechanic and even proposes a solution.

Dan has a lot to say about D&D, Tony & Alex played Skyrim as a co-op game, and everyone has a lot to say about the utility of rules.

We kick things off with more Nintendo belly-aching, including Pokémon Snap, Pokémon GO, Ring Fit follow up, the new Nintendo Direct, and Tony wishing Nintendo had a game pass. A fascinating view on the purpose of Kirby in Nintendo’s lineup is proposed, and the interesting bits of Super Mario 3D are extolled. In the second half, we veer off into Alex’s motivations when playing games and Dan and Alex’s experiences beating Hades. Finally, things get a little spicy as we discuss the relative merits of player choice and optimization in games through the lens of save mechanics and more.

The Pixel Boys discuss Hades, learning through trial and error, Just Dance, and Ring Fit Adventure. A discussion of GameStop stonks (AKA GameStocks) swerves into Dan's adventures into cryptocurrencies and more. Also, they finally solve how to evaluate the collectibles in a game as well as when the collectibles ARE the game (commonly known as "collectathons").

Prepare for some hot takes! Alex finally plays Stardew Valley solo as well as Hades, we have a discussion on Nintendo’s motivations and intentions, and we review Cyberpunk 2077. Lastly, we go into overtime to discuss Celeste, because Tony and Dan have finally finished it.