The Insert Credit Show

Ep. 444 - Trickle-Down Justice

Our heroes confront Summer Game Fest, questions of manners when talking to swords, and another trip to the Omegaverse.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: What did you think of the PlayStation State of Play? (05:19)

2: Why do we do these and who are they for? (16:47)

3: If you could insert one sentence into Geoff Keighley’s teleprompter at Summer Game Fest this year, what would it be? (21:10)

4: CaptainNAC asks, which game would you pick as the secret handle to open a hidden passageway behind a false wall? (26:45)

5: What would you guess are the first five mods a community typically makes for a video game? (35:27)

6: What is the John Waters’ Pink Flamingos (1972) of video games? (40:03)

Send a one minute or less .mp3 or .wav of yourself explaining your choice for the John Waters’ Pink Flamingos of Video Games (or why The Godfather Part II might have been advertised using a pink flamingo) to [email protected] and maybe we’ll play it on air in a future episode!

LIGHTNING ROUND: Omegaversus (44:42)

Omegaverse

Recommendations and Outro (01:11:34):

Brandon: Read Only Memo, Dirty Kopz (2001)
Frank: The Video Game History Hour Ep. 156 - Read Only Memo
Ash: Find something you like on Archive of Our Own and leave a comment and kudos on something you like

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

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Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn. Original Music by Kurt Feldman.

8 June 2026, 9:42 am

Ep. 443 - It's Da Freakin' Bat, with Lucy James

Podcaster and Summer Games Fest host Lucy James joins the panel to cover Hideo Kojima’s AI use, playing as a cat in games, and GamemasterAnthony’s pride parade.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: What’s the most ludicrous video game press release you’ve ever seen? (05:28)

2: How is AI viewed in Japanese development? (11:27)

Hideo Kojima's AI Prada video prompts outcry from gamers

3: What’s your favorite thing to be in a video game? (14:25)

4: How would you explain Minecraft to Zohran Mamdani? (20:41)

Zohran Mamdani
Minecraft
Boris Johnson
Sadiq Khan
Meijer
A Minecraft Movie (2025)
Jack Black
Bubsy
The video of a zombie in a mine cart (thanks to Sandwich Jones for finding this for me)
Demonschool
Pathologic 2
Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures
Marvel Spider-Man
Cities: Skylines
Tropico
Sid Meier’s Civilization series
Disco Elysium
Tim Walz
Crazy Taxi

5: Catherine asks, which video game characters would you expect to show up at Pride? (28:10)

6: What lines from or aspects of video games have permeated your real life? (34:39)

7: What is The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026) of video games? (43:43)

LIGHTNING ROUND: OC Remix (49:09)

Recommendations and Outro (01:07:17):

Frank: LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight,
Brandon: Vote for gov’nah if you’re Californian, Sega-16’s Mike Fischer interview, the first and second Abashiri Prison movies but not the third one
Ash: Touch grass
Lucy: Widow’s Bay, lookingfor.game

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1 June 2026, 4:23 pm

Ep. 442 - Even More Questions Too Stupid for the Dirtbag, with Esper Quinn

Editor and media critic Esper Quinn joins Ash and Brandon in answering more questions from the insert credit forum.

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Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

SHOW NOTES:

1: marurun asks, who is the most pointlessly bland fighting game character? Moreso than “guy in a karate gi”. (03:17)

2: ana asks, what’s the most common hidden gem? (05:55)

3: yeso asks, has anyone ever cried at one of the Leisure Suit Larry death scenes? (07:48)

4: SteveWithaB asks, is it time to retire the term “gamer”? (11:06)

5: Tradegood asks, if Xbox is Mountain Dew and Doritos, and Nintendo is Coca-Cola and Pringles, what is Sony? (13:40)

6: Death_Strandicoot asks, who should be the first recipient of the Nobel Prize for Video Games? (16:16)

7: Mnemogenic asks, how would you adapt a 10 yen game into a big budget AAA video game? (18:24)

8: Taliesin_Merlin asks, design an Amy Rose video game based on one of the following novel premises. (20:41)

9: Tom asks, what are the seven basic game genres? (23:33)

The Seven Basic Plots

10: mtvcribs asks, what happened to thong-era final fantasy (26:19)

11: mack41 asks, is Google Maps cop warning alert a strand game? (29:07)

12: beets asks, if you were going to make a table from videogame hardware, what would you use? (30:53)

13: rootfifthoctave asks, is sega the company that gets the most “[not-sega game] feels like a [sega] game” comments spoken about it? (32:24)

14: KingTubb asks, how often do the following characters change their bed sheets: (35:11)

15: PassionQuotient asks, what’s the video game equivalent of reading all of Shakespeare? What about James Joyce? (38:26)

16: Kiki asks, what’s Jollibee? (41:07)

17: YellerDog asks, what game is the most fun with the worst graphics? What game is the least fun with the best graphics? (42:58)

18: adashtra asks, What is the “telling your puppy to stop biting your feet, but he’s so dang cute you don’t wanna yell at him” of video games? (45:20)

Animal Crossing series

LIGHTNING ROUND: Arcade of Our Own (48:58)

Recommendations and Outro (01:05:42):

Brandon: some of The Magnificent Seven sequels but not others, Possession (1981), microchip your animals
Ash: Is God Is (2026)
Esper: Esper Quinn's Top 10 Hottest Games of 2025, Witch Hat Atelier, Absolute Wonder Woman, Fantastic Four, The Moon & Serpent Bumper Book of Magic
Jaffe: Read Berserk at work

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

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Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Ash Parrish, Brandon Sheffield, and Esper Quinn. Edited by Esper Quinn. Original Music by Kurt Feldman.

25 May 2026, 9:46 am

Ep. 441 - Sigmas in the Omegaverse

The finest minds in video games discuss flying in games, retaining players over the course of a series, and self-lubricating anuses.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: How do you make flight feel good? (05:48)

2: What makes a good shop theme? (10:22)

3: What are good ways games can reward you for playing the previous entry in a series? (16:48)

4: How could you “walk the room” giving a talk at a video game conference? (21:29)

5: Yeso asks, what is the soda vs. pop of video games? (30:41)

6: What’s the difference between a director and a lead designer in video games? (37:33)

7: What stats would you add to fighting game character bios? (40:14)

LIGHTNING ROUND: 21 Questions (45:51)

Recommendations and Outro (01:06:31):

Brandon: You can make watermelon gazpacho out of unripe or unflavorful watermelons, Alyzea, Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel (1979), Convoy Busters (1978), Mona Kimura
Frank: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) if you want to just delete 2 hours of your life

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

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Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn. Original Music by Kurt Feldman.

18 May 2026, 4:34 am

Ep. 440 - No More Worlds to Conker

Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield cover GameStop making an offer for eBay, the hotness of the new StarFox designs, and dead rabbids.

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Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

SHOW NOTES:

1: GameStop isn’t gonna buy eBay, right? (08:56)

2: What are the level 1 magic spells you want to make available to a player in a game? (14:00)

Hang on. Is Indiana Jones’s hat a fedora?

Indiana Jones: His Hats Explained

Okay back to Question 2.

Metroidvania

3: Are the Star Fox characters hotter now or not? (18:41)

4: Write five clues for a Jeopardy! video game category (24:18)

5: LeFish asks, what is the best French thing in video games, and what is the best fish? (28:57)

6: What is a more useful aggregation tool: Metacritic, which averages scores, or Rotten Tomatoes, which averages positive vs. negative reviews? (33:53)

7: What is the Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985) of video games? (37:10)

LIGHTNING ROUND: User Reviews (43:14)

Credit Corner (56:54)

Recommendations and Outro (57:19):

Brandon: The Sting (1973), Get Carter (1971)
Frank: Rollick N' Roll
Ash: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Love and Deepspace

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11 May 2026, 7:46 am

Ep. 439 - Deleterious

Our heroes share thoughts on twenty years of achievements, developers responding to player feedback, and whether nail bats count as blunt weapons.

SHOW NOTES:

1: When has the appeal of a popular game eluded you? (05:24)

Credit Report (11:40)

2: How have trophies and achievements impacted video games over the past 20 years? (13:39)

3: Let’s talk about that MindsEye DLC (20:21)

4: Give me your dream video game blunt rotation (which is to say, three items to cycle through as blunt weapons in a video game) (25:31)

5: Issac asks, what makes a good sick game? (32:47)

6: To what extent should a studio consider the feedback of their playerbase, and when should they ignore it? (39:34)

7: What is the realizing you’ve been to a restaurant too many times because the workers know who you are by sight of video games? (44:51)

LIGHTNING ROUND: Circle K Corral (51:11)

Recommendations and Outro (59:34):

Brandon: Def By Temptation (1990), Ooh Rap I Ya
Ash: Actually don’t watch For All Mankind, Titanium Court, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty
Frank: Eat a ton of shredded cabbage

This week’s episode art was done by Gilbert Smith. Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

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Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn. Original Music by Kurt Feldman. Episode art by Gilbert Smith.

4 May 2026, 9:00 am

Ep. 438 - We Will Not Be Kept in Your Balls

Your Insert Credit Panel discusses the future of Xbox, the difference between dad games and mom games, and weird little guys.

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Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

SHOW NOTES:

1: When are you convinced to go back to a particular game after putting it down? (02:51)

2: Through video game history, how has the job of level designer evolved? (07:44)

3: What are the differences between a dad game and a mom game? (12:59)

4: Design a video game trilogy intended to grow up with the player base (19:39)

5: Death_Strandicoot asks, is Xbox a third party now? Is there still a Big 3? (28:01)

6: What are some new ways to torture players in masocore games? (33:42)

7: What is the McDonald’s Sprite of video games? (38:42)

LIGHTNING ROUND: GameFAQ&As - Roblox Mobile (43:51)

Recommendations and Outro (49:51):

Frank: apply for Video Game History Foundation’s Charity Development Coordinator if you meet the qualifications
Ash: For All Mankind
Brandon: Boogiepop Phantom, Ikarie XB-1 (1963), Baby Steps Developers React to 7 Minute Speedrun

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Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn. Original Music by Kurt Feldman.

27 April 2026, 8:20 pm

Ep. 437 - Cookie's Bustacular

The panel reviews Cookie’s Bustle, a Japanese PC adventure game hindered by endless copyright strikes and finally freed by the Video Game History Foundation.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: How did we get here? (05:53)

2: How hard is it to get this Japanese abandonware game from 1999 running on your PC in 2026? (11:38)

3: What is happening in Cookie’s Bustle and what are you doing in it? (18:18)

4: Apart from financial cost, what are the material advantages of keeping a development team small? (36:43)

Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

5: Chopemon asks: If you were to go on an adventure, what items have video games taught you to take that you wouldn’t normally think to take? (43:26)

6: Developer Keisuke Harigai once said in a 2001 interview that he designed Cookie’s Bustle with the European market in mind. What do you think that means? (49:51)

7: Do you like Cookie’s Bustle? (56:07)

8: Let’s talk about the mystique of inaccessible games (01:04:24)

LIGHTNING ROUND: Recommendations (01:15:56)

Brandon: Moon Child
Frank: The Cookie’s Bustle collection at the Video Game History Foundation
Ash: Pizza

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

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Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn. Original Music by Kurt Feldman.

20 April 2026, 4:10 am

Ep. 436 - Shiny Finding Instinct, with Mathew Kumar

Writer and Game Developer Mathew Kumar joins an episode hosted by Esper Quinn, covering live service games, personalized Silent Hills, and the Kentucky Loan Ranger.

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Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

SHOW NOTES:

1: What would it take to get you into a live service game today? (03:57)

2: Has a video game ever led to you taking up a non-video game hobby? (10:56)

3: Brandon Sheffield asks, have you ever found a piece of media you didn’t realize was based on a video game, then played the video game? (17:24)

4: If you had access to the most advanced 3D graphics rendering capabilities available today, what would you make? (24:19)

5: Alex Jaffe asks, what would your Silent Hill be like? (30:20)

6: What’s the most work you ever put into a video game doing something that wasn’t explicitly encouraged by the game? (37:00)

7: What is the anime waifu car wrap of video games? (47:05)

LIGHTNING ROUND: Name Design - Magic Cards, Odyssey Block Edition (51:05)

Acceptable Losses
Cunning Wish
Basking Rootwalla (not a real animal, but based on the real Chuckwalla)
Faceless Butcher
Gallantry
Hunting Grounds
Bamboozle

Recommendations and Outro (58:32):

Brandon: Skip Tracer (1977)
Mathew: Backyard Bloodbaths
Frank: Thunderbean
Esper: Blippo+

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

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Hosted by Esper Quinn, with Frank Cifaldi, Brandon Sheffield, and Mathew Kumar. Edited by Esper Quinn. Original Music by Kurt Feldman.

13 April 2026, 6:00 am

Ep. 435 - Never Underestimate a PS4 Player from Kentucky Named Josh, with Catherine Masters

Video Game Journalist Catherine Masters joins the panel to cover console prices, the Microsoft BDS boycott, and Bubsy helping Mario with something.

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Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

SHOW NOTES:

1: How much more expensive can game consoles get? (04:43)

2: Why do people treat a Steam release like “the” PC release? (09:51)

3: After a year, what impact has the BDS Microsoft boycott had? (15:23)

4: What’s the deal with all these egg games? (19:05)

5: Alex Jaffe asks, what tattoo would you give to a tech bro asking for “gamer cred”? (24:55)

6: What games could you rework from single player to multiplayer? (31:10)

7: What should Catherine do instead of watching Insert Credit this week? (36:17)

8: What’s the juicy cotoure tracksuit of video games? (38:56)

LIGHTNING ROUND: Pokedexperts (47:45)

Recommendations and Outro (56:33):

Catherine: Hire Catherine if you’re a reputable publisher, make plans to finish things, Memory Card, Catherine’s work at The AV Club
Ash: Pursuit of Jade, revolution now
Brandon: 1000 Women in Horror, Apocalypse Hotel, 東風 by Sawteeth, Frédérick Raynal’s kickstarter for Popcorn Duel + Spinner
Frank: You can just watch Star Trek whenever you want without paying anyone money

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by 0nlygh0sts, Kyle Brown, Kory, Alexander Davies, willROAR, Jordan Thornquest, Death_Strandicoot, Sean Patrick, PlazmaGoose, and more patrons like you. Thank you.

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Hosted by Catherine Masters, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn. Original Music by Kurt Feldman.

(A previous version of this episode used an image from yolkfolk.com that we were not aware was AI generated. This has been fixed, and we apologize for showing it to you. Generative AI sucks, sorry about that.)

6 April 2026, 8:12 am

Ep. 434 - Go Home and Be a Family Man

Your Insert Credit Panel covers bargaining with publishers, sordid secrets of video game couples, and the Zohran Mamdani of esports.

SHOW NOTES:

1: What’s your favorite cartridge shape? (03:19)

2: As a game developer, how do you buy more time from your publisher? (08:21)

3: What are the most important skills people don’t talk about in esports? (13:16)

4: Given recent drama, what are some other secrets of video game character couples? (18:55)

5: What video game would you recommend to Mary Shelly? (27:15)

6: SteveWithaB asks, was there a time you remember being bullied for enjoying video games? (30:04)

7: What is the waking up just a few minutes before your alarm of video games? (37:47)

LIGHTNING ROUND: ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID? (41:26)

Recommendations and Outro (58:38):

Frank: Kinetica, actually donate the stuff you set aside to donate
Brandon: Suddenly In The Dark (1981)
Ash: Out of the Closet Thrift Stores
Jaffe: Donate goods to Housing Works

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

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Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn. Original Music by Kurt Feldman.

30 March 2026, 9:41 am