These Games Will Win at The Game Awards – Maybe!

Ahead of the annual Game Awards spectacle, Frushtick and Griffin make their predictions on which games will take home statues. Does Balatro really have a chance to win it all?

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Griffin McElroy?

  Have we talked about the actual game award? Have we talked about the award, the physical tangible thing you get?

• 0:08Russ Frushtick?

  I don't think we have, and I have strong feelings about it. Do you have an initial thought?

• 0:13Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, sure. Here's my first sort of, my first sort of thought. It doesn't make any fucking sense.

• 0:20Russ Frushtick?

  What do you mean, it's a flying lady?

• 0:21Griffin McElroy?

  It's an angel lady, done in a sort of like, I don't know, Gatsby-esque art deco.

• 0:28Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, sure.

• 0:29Griffin McElroy?

  Sort of minimalist style. One could argue that there is a polygonal sort of thing going on, and the angel is flying out of a bunch of pixels. That is the silver statue that we are describing. Apparently, it's a Weta workshop joint. So like, that's great.

• 0:44Russ Frushtick?

  Did they need to go to Weta? Really? They're gonna go to the cream of the crop for that guy?

• 0:48Griffin McElroy?

  This is a great, don't get me wrong. It's a great statue. It is iconic. It looks amazing. Is it a game award? I don't, I don't know.

• 0:59Russ Frushtick?

  So what do you want, ideally? Like, you want some hands covered in Dorito dust, or?

• 1:04Griffin McElroy?

  What you've just said is reductive to a degree that is offensive to me, but mostly, I think, our listeners, which is more offensive to me.

• 1:13Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:13Griffin McElroy?

  No, not hands covered in Cheeto dust, but like-

• 1:16Russ Frushtick?

  I said Doritos, but yeah.

• 1:17Griffin McElroy?

  Like, um, you know, the Triforce.

• 1:22Russ Frushtick?

  Oh, you want the Triforce?

• 1:24Griffin McElroy?

  Wouldn't that be cool? You get the Triforce.

• 1:26Russ Frushtick?

  And you fucking hold it up like Link holds it up?

• 1:28Griffin McElroy?

  What if it's a sword? What if the game award is a sword?

• 1:32Russ Frushtick?

  Wait, it's one sword, or everyone gets their own sword?

• 1:36Griffin McElroy?

  What if it's a ribbon? What if we do ribbons or plaques for this one? You know, it doesn't always have to be a big trophy. How cool would it be if, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor goes to Matthew McConaughey, you get up there and it's a bowl. It's like a little, an orb. You get a sphere.

• 1:57Russ Frushtick?

  No, here's the thing. I like the ribbon idea, because what's cool about ribbons is they get pinned on to the winner.

• 2:02Griffin McElroy?

  Cool.

• 2:03Russ Frushtick?

  So by the end, if you're fucking Matthew McConaughey and you're taking it all in, if you're Elden Ring, you end up looking like a, you know-

• 2:09Griffin McElroy?

  Like a decorated war hero.

• 2:11Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, you're like a general.

• 2:12Griffin McElroy?

  Oh, why not war hero badges? What do they call those? Like the purple badge? The purple badge you get when you get hurt. Medals! Yes, medals! There's so many incredible ways to congratulate someone for excellence.

• 2:26Russ Frushtick?

  Achievements.

• 2:28Griffin McElroy?

  That is it, isn't it?

• 2:29Russ Frushtick?

  We did it.

• 2:30Griffin McElroy?

  Just a big cutout cardboard of an Xbox 360 UI prompt.

• 2:34Russ Frushtick?

  And it makes the noise.

• 2:36Griffin McElroy?

  Cool. We came full circle back to gamer shit.

• 2:40Russ Frushtick?

  We did.

• 2:58Griffin McElroy?

  My name is Griffin McElroy and I know the games, the best games of the year as according to the game awards happening tomorrow.

• 3:07Russ Frushtick?

  My name is Russ Roshigata, the best game of the week.

• 3:10Griffin McElroy?

  And this is the besties you don't need for on a podcast.

• 3:14Russ Frushtick?

  No. You don't even need three.

• 3:16Griffin McElroy?

  No, I do a podcast, Russ, with my wife and that's two. And you're not my wife.

• 3:20Russ Frushtick?

  Mm hmm.

• 3:21Griffin McElroy?

  No matter how bad the internet wants that to be true, you're not my wife.

• 3:25Russ Frushtick?

  We've made that mistake so many times.

• 3:27Griffin McElroy?

  You're not my wife.

• 3:28Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 3:28Griffin McElroy?

  But we are going to do a two-hander because both of our boys are out on assignment and the holidays get crazy for everybody, don't they? This week, we're going to be talking about the game awards. We're going to be talking about who's going to win all the different nominees? Who's not going to win by as a result of that? And what are some of the big announced arenas we are expecting to come down the pipeline? There have been so many leaks. Keely's trying to keep his fingers plugged in all the holes, didn't he? But it keeps on juicing out.

• 3:57Russ Frushtick?

  He's got some big fingers.

• 3:58Griffin McElroy?

  He does have big meaty paws. We're going to talk about Jeff Keighley's huge hands and the game award nominees and who we think's going to win right after this short break.

• 4:08Russ Frushtick?

  So I think last week when we were talking about this, we implied that the episode would go up the day after the game awards. That's not true. It's actually going up several days before.

• 4:18Griffin McElroy?

  The game awards are on Saturday, aren't they?

• 4:20Russ Frushtick?

  No, it's December 12th.

• 4:22Griffin McElroy?

  Oh, shoot. Okay. Well, then it's not tomorrow.

• 4:25Russ Frushtick?

  So we are, this is genuinely going to be a predictive thing and you will be able to follow along to see how right we are after we, after we determine all the award winners. And just to start off with, Griffin, I, If you could do me a favor.

• 4:39Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah.

• 4:39Russ Frushtick?

  If you could read every category as quickly as possible, that'd be great.

• 4:44Griffin McElroy?

  You want me to read every category of, of, of award?

• 4:49Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, it's one award show. How many categories could there be?

• 4:51Griffin McElroy?

  Oh, I'm so glad you asked. For this fucking four hour long award show, we've got players, players voice, a strong start. Players voice, best esports team, best esports athlete, best esports game, content creator of the year, most anticipated game, best multiplayer, best sports slash racing, best sim slash strategy, best family game, best fighting game, best RPG, best action adventure game, best action game, best VR slash AR game, best mobile game, best debut indie, best indie, best community support, best ongoing game, best games for impact, innovation and accessibility, best performance, best audio design, best score in music, best art direction, best narrative, best adaptation, best game direction, best game of the year. It's probably not best game of the year, is it?

• 5:30Russ Frushtick?

  It's actually.

• 5:31Griffin McElroy?

  Someone went a little bit best crazy there. That's all of them, though.

• 5:35Russ Frushtick?

  You might be right. That is all of them. And people give the game awards a lot of shit for being just like a bunch of trailers, but that is a lot of awards, too.

• 5:42Griffin McElroy?

  It's not, the problem isn't that there's a lot of trailers. I love trailers.

• 5:46Russ Frushtick?

  Me too.

• 5:47Griffin McElroy?

  It's that there's a lot of everything, isn't there?

• 5:48Russ Frushtick?

  There's a lot of everything. It is a buffet of video game award giving.

• 5:53Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah. And a lot of this stuff I don't care about. And that's fine. Like, it's not all have to be catered to me. But I mean, if you want to start at the bottom and go up.

• 6:04Russ Frushtick?

  No, no, no, no.

• 6:06Griffin McElroy?

  You want to start at the top and go down.

• 6:06Russ Frushtick?

  Bottom is the juicy stuff.

• 6:08Griffin McElroy?

  So we gotta save that, yeah.

• 6:09Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, we gotta save the juicy stuff.

• 6:11Griffin McElroy?

  But like Russ, I'll be honest with you. I have, um, I think at this point, 17 years experience in the games industry, covering it in various, uh, various ways. I don't even know how to begin deliberating if the best esports team is going to be Billy Billy Gaming, or Na'Vi, or Team Liquid.

• 6:29Russ Frushtick?

  Sure, sure, sure.

• 6:29Griffin McElroy?

  Team Liquid's the one I recognize. I also recognize T1, so it could be one of those two. Do you have any thoughts?

• 6:35Russ Frushtick?

  Well, we should be very clear. For one thing, these are not, because I don't want to spoil the besties game of the year. So what we're saying here is not what our picks are for each of these categories.

• 6:45Griffin McElroy?

  No.

• 6:46Russ Frushtick?

  So when we do the besties game of the year, specifically for best esports team, it might not be Billy Billy Gaming.

• 6:53Griffin McElroy?

  No.

• 6:55Russ Frushtick?

  So like just, just to have that upfront, which is to say best esports team, I'm gonna have to go by funniest name, which is Billy Billy Gaming.

• 7:03Griffin McElroy?

  I think, yeah, I don't even know if we're pronouncing that right. It's entirely possible we are not.

• 7:07Russ Frushtick?

  Spelled that way.

• 7:08Griffin McElroy?

  Can I just, maybe we should skip some of the ones that um, we aren't going to be able to say anything about. Content creator of the year. Again, no one I know got the nom for that one.

• 7:20Russ Frushtick?

  Wait, wait, wait, let's see, let's see. Cause again, we could, okay, so we have Queso, Ilwan, Technogamers with a Z, Typical Gamer, and Usada Pekora.

• 7:30Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, I don't, apologies. This is not a read on any of these people. I don't follow anything. Um, so I don't know.

• 7:36Russ Frushtick?

  I like the Z in Technogamers. That's my immediate thought.

• 7:40Griffin McElroy?

  I do like the Z in Technogamers.

• 7:42Russ Frushtick?

  So I think Technogamer is gonna take it, but just because of the Z.

• 7:45Griffin McElroy?

  Let's do most anticipated game. This is the one that maybe we can apply some level of logic to. We've got Death Stranding 2 On The Beach, Ghost Of Yote, we've got Grand Theft Auto 6, we've got Metroid Prime 4 Beyond, and we got Monster Hunter Wilds.

• 8:00Russ Frushtick?

  Okay, this is probably the funniest category of all of them, because as we all know, Jeff Keighley has a buddy. He is a pal. He has a compatriot in arms.

• 8:12Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah. You, oh, you're saying, you're saying that there's no way Keighley can, well, first of all, there's a jury, I think, who decides the award winners. It's not just Kilo himself.

• 8:21Russ Frushtick?

  No, no, I know, I know.

• 8:22Griffin McElroy?

  So I, I do love the conspiracy theorizing that this one's gonna go to Kojima.

• 8:26Russ Frushtick?

  It's not even a conspiracy, I'm just saying, you know, I don't know, man.

• 8:31Griffin McElroy?

  Like Kojima's gonna be there.

• 8:32Russ Frushtick?

  And if you were to look at best, most anticipated games of years past, I'm sure there's been some Kojima shit in there. And I would say like, I am excited for that game. It's probably number two on this list of most anticipated for me.

• 8:43Griffin McElroy?

  Number one being?

• 8:44Russ Frushtick?

  Grand Theft Auto 6.

• 8:45Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, so that's the one that's gonna win this award, because it's Grand Theft Auto 6. The only reason I think that is because it's Grand Theft Auto 6. Is the only reason why.

• 8:54Russ Frushtick?

  I mean, it is not coming out in 2025.

• 8:56Griffin McElroy?

  Not gonna come out in 25, no, but it is anticip- we are anticipating it.

• 9:01Russ Frushtick?

  It should win, although if there's, if it's, okay, if it's Death Stranding, though, we're all gonna look a little side-eye, a little bit, right?

• 9:09Griffin McElroy?

  Well, especially if it is followed by him coming on stage and debuting a trailer for, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exclusive trailer for Death Stranding 2 on the beach. I would love, I would love a new Kojima trailer.

• 9:20Russ Frushtick?

  We're due for one.

• 9:21Griffin McElroy?

  We are due. I mean, it was this time last year that we got, I feel like, a glut of the, uh, last, last VGS. Isn't that when he announced the project with, uh, uh, Jordan Peele?

• 9:33Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, the like OT or whatever that was called, the like PT follow-up, yeah.

• 9:37Griffin McElroy?

  Let me see some of that. Let me get some of that, please.

• 9:39Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, that'd be great.

• 9:40Griffin McElroy?

  Best multiplayer: Call of Duty Black Ops 6, Helldivers 2, Super Mario Party Jamboree, Tekken 8, Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2. A wild list.

• 9:50Russ Frushtick?

  It's a wa- it's maybe the most diverse list in the bunch.

• 9:53Griffin McElroy?

  I, I, I, thinking about it, I did not play a lot of multiplayer this year. The, the stuff I got into was like Sea of Thieves, that game is very old and not a ton of people play it.

• 10:07Russ Frushtick?

  No.

• 10:07Griffin McElroy?

  Um, I was swept up in the Helldivers 2 zeitgeist for a couple of weeks there, for a few weeks there. Um, but I did not pick up the new Call of Duty.

• 10:19Russ Frushtick?

  Uh, great campaign, but I did not play the multiplayer. I think it's gonna go to Helldivers 2, cause I think everyone voting at least had a moment where they experienced it.

• 10:28Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, it is definitely the most, it is the most zeitgeist-y of all of these, I would say. And it is the one that I think people are the most sort of familiar with. I also don't know if Helldivers 2 is going to thrive in any other categories.

• 10:40Russ Frushtick?

  Probably not.

• 10:41Griffin McElroy?

  So this would, this would probably be the one.

• 10:43Russ Frushtick?

  I don't even know if it shows up in any other categories.

• 10:45Griffin McElroy?

  Um, I think it does. We'll see, though. Uh, best sports slash racing, we're not gonna be able to, F1 24, EA Sports FC 25. I don't even know what sport that is.

• 10:55Russ Frushtick?

  FC is probably.

• 10:57Griffin McElroy?

  Football club?

• 10:58Russ Frushtick?

  Football club?

• 10:59Griffin McElroy?

  EA Sports Football Club 25.

• 11:01Russ Frushtick?

  Which football, though?

• 11:04Griffin McElroy?

  Probably, I mean, I don't know. They don't call American football teams football clubs.

• 11:09Russ Frushtick?

  I think it's FIFA. I think what used to be FIFA is now FC25.

• 11:12Griffin McElroy?

  Okay.

• 11:13Russ Frushtick?

  And you listen to this podcast for our video game expertise and now we just don't even know what the names of the game.

• 11:19Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, there's, there's the, I do love, there's a new expansion team in the NHL. It's in Salt Lake City and it's the Utah Hockey Club. Which I do, I like the simplicity, the cleanliness of that. Yeah, man, that's, that's the name. NBA 2K25, Top Spin 2K25, WWE 2K24.

• 11:36Russ Frushtick?

  Now, Top Spin 2K25 did have that new backspin system for when you're like, doing like a really powerful backspin shot. And I think that alone might take it.

• 11:44Griffin McElroy?

  Agreed, Russ. Some of the greatest advancements in backspin technology. Also a recognition of what a landmark year it's been in the sport of tennis. Big names stepping down, big names stepping up. We got Challengers, which was so horny and made everyone so horny.

• 12:00Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, big time.

• 12:01Griffin McElroy?

  Which I don't, I don't actually know if that came out this year.

• 12:04Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, I think it did. Spider-Man was in it. Yeah.

• 12:06Griffin McElroy?

  Best Sim, no, he wasn't. Best Sim slash strategy game. Age of Mythology Retold, Frostpunk 2, Konnichiwa, Path of the Goddess. I know our own Chris Plant was a big fan of that one.

• 12:17Russ Frushtick?

  He loved that game.

• 12:18Griffin McElroy?

  Manor Lords and Unicorn Overlord. Um, I played Unicorn Overlord.

• 12:22Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, we played that for our besties.

• 12:24Griffin McElroy?

  I've heard great things about Manor Lords. Uh, I know that our, uh, our sort of merch lead, uh, McKay got, got into Manor Lords, if memory serves. I don't know. We're, we're pretty far outside of our, I would say, we don't have like a big strategy fan in the show.

• 12:44Russ Frushtick?

  No, we don't.

• 12:45Griffin McElroy?

  It's usually the, one of the, the genres we have to reach outside the show to get somebody to talk about.

• 12:50Russ Frushtick?

  I mean, I like, I mean, you know, if Manor Lords gets the nod from the only person that seemingly cares about strategy games.

• 12:59Griffin McElroy?

  I mean, it looks great.

• 13:00Russ Frushtick?

  It's not gonna go to Kunitzugami, because that game is too friggin weird. I played it. It was weird as hell.

• 13:04Griffin McElroy?

  It might go to, um, I mean Unicorn Overlord, uh...

• 13:09Russ Frushtick?

  Beloved by people who love those games.

• 13:11Griffin McElroy?

  Beloved by people who love those games, and I don't know if VanillaWare has like a winning track record, uh, in the, in the VGAs.

• 13:18Russ Frushtick?

  Oh, so you think people are gonna look back and be like, they're due?

• 13:22Griffin McElroy?

  Maybe, but Frostpunk was such a big groundbreaking. It was like a big strategy game when that dropped. And I feel like I didn't hear as much about Frostpunk 2. But again, I don't work for Polygon anymore. And so my exposure to the day-to-day fucking heartbeat of this industry is, is so disconnected.

• 13:39Russ Frushtick?

  I think it's fair to say we should just skip this category.

• 13:41Griffin McElroy?

  Skip it on over to best family game. We have families. We are a family. Best family game. Astro Bot, Princess Peach Showtime, Super Mario Party Jamboree, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, or The Plucky Squire.

• 13:52Russ Frushtick?

  Now, I will say that my son fucking loves Echoes of Wisdom, because you can summon like 16 crows.

• 13:59Griffin McElroy?

  Henry finished it. Henry finished that shit. Henry cut his teeth on that game. I was so proud of him. He, uh, he, he really stuck with it even though it was quite, quite difficult at times.

• 14:09Russ Frushtick?

  Did Henry play Astro Bot? I think Astro Bot and Echoes of Wisdom are like the two that have the best shot.

• 14:14Griffin McElroy?

  Absolutely, of these five. Um, he has not played Astro Bot. He has asked about it, but Daddy's Playstation 5 is on the third floor.

• 14:21Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 14:21Griffin McElroy?

  And he doesn't go up there.

• 14:22Russ Frushtick?

  The no-go floor. It's like that in Beauty and the Beast when he's not allowed to go to that wing.

• 14:27Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, Daddy's, Daddy's, uh, encased rose, magic rose is, is in his office. Um, I have been going back and playing Astro Bot. We have started the process of kind of like sharing our own personal, like, top 10s to each other. Not anything set in stone, but just so we know that, you know...

• 14:43Russ Frushtick?

  With Henry?

• 14:44Griffin McElroy?

  No, me and you and Chris and Justin, uh, have started sharing our top 10s with each other so that we know there's no, like, you know, big gaps in our, kind of like, stuff. If one player, person like loved one game, everybody wants to make sure they've had a chance to play it. So I've been going back and actually playing some more Astro Bot, and, uh, I've, I've been very much enjoying it.

• 15:02Russ Frushtick?

  That game fucking rules.

• 15:03Griffin McElroy?

  I, I will say this. One of these games is nominated for Gody, and one of them is not. And the game that is nominated for Gody is Astro Bot.

• 15:11Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, there have been weird moments of like split votes, but I think Astro Bot is gonna take it.

• 15:16Griffin McElroy?

  I think Astro Bot wins it. Yeah.

• 15:17Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, I think so too.

• 15:18Griffin McElroy?

  Um, best fighting game. Should we just keep on going?

• 15:23Russ Frushtick?

  Uh, looking at this list, yes, we should keep on going. Wait, Multiverse still exists.

• 15:28Griffin McElroy?

  Multiverse is still going.

• 15:30Russ Frushtick?

  Still trekking.

• 15:31Griffin McElroy?

  Still going. It's nominated for a couple of things, I think, maybe.

• 15:34Russ Frushtick?

  Tekken has a panda.

• 15:36Griffin McElroy?

  Tekken does have a panda. Um, best RPG. Now we are fucking talking.

• 15:41Russ Frushtick?

  We are talking.

• 15:42Griffin McElroy?

  Dragon's Dogma 2, Elden Ring.

• 15:44Russ Frushtick?

  Maybe the most competitive category in the entire.

• 15:46Griffin McElroy?

  Five hot ones. Five hot, hot little guys. Dragon's Dogma 2, Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Metaphor: Refontazio. Uh, three of these are nominated for GOTY. Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Metaphor are all nominated for GOTY. What a fucking banger year it's been for my favorite genre of video games.

• 16:08Russ Frushtick?

  Crazy.

• 16:09Griffin McElroy?

  I have been eating so good this year, it's insane. Um, but I don't.

• 16:13Russ Frushtick?

  I don't really understand the difference between action adventure and like where that line gets drawn is.

• 16:17Griffin McElroy?

  It's getting blurrier and blurrier.

• 16:19Russ Frushtick?

  Very confusing to me, but that's okay.

• 16:21Griffin McElroy?

  I mean, my, I'm not going to get into my druthers. We'll get into my druthers when we do our GOTY list. Uh, I don't think it goes to Dragon's Dogma 2. I don't think it'll go to Infinite Wealth. That's tragic.

• 16:34Russ Frushtick?

  Oh, that's interesting. Why do you, why do you not think Infinite Wealth?

• 16:37Griffin McElroy?

  Um, I think that that series is, uh, is beloved by many, uh, including myself. And, but I also think, given the sort of like jury nature of how these things are selected.

• 16:51Russ Frushtick?

  Sure.

• 16:51Griffin McElroy?

  It is going to go to either probably Elden Ring or Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

• 16:56Russ Frushtick?

  Interesting. Yeah, I don't know. I think Elden Ring with the DLC nature of it all, I think will, will hinder.

• 17:02Griffin McElroy?

  I think it goes to Rebirth then. Yeah, just a process of elimination. I feel like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is going to win the game award for best RPG. It does not win that in my heart.

• 17:12Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 17:12Griffin McElroy?

  Um, but, uh, you know, that's, that's the way the cookie crumbles.

• 17:17Russ Frushtick?

  I think that's a good assumption to make.

• 17:18Griffin McElroy?

  Now, now best action adventure game. Again, Astro Bot, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Okay. Silent Hill 2, okay. Star Wars Outlaws and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.

• 17:29Russ Frushtick?

  Now, what is the unifying characteristic of all these games?

• 17:32Griffin McElroy?

  Nothing. There's fucking no, there's no unifying between Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Silent Hill 2. There is nothing. There is nothing.

• 17:40Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 17:40Griffin McElroy?

  Um, does Astro Bot kind of run?

• 17:45Griffin McElroy?

  Run the, run the tables a little bit, do you think?

• 17:48Russ Frushtick?

  I mean, in this category, I think it fucking cruises. There's some great games in this category. Well, there's-

• 17:54Griffin McElroy?

  Again, it's Echoes of Wisdom and Astro Bot, right? Like two, two, two games-

• 17:58Russ Frushtick?

  I think Prince of Persia is up there in terms of quality. I don't know about voting.

• 18:02Griffin McElroy?

  In my, in my book, absolutely.

• 18:04Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 18:04Griffin McElroy?

  I don't think that it's going to, uh, I don't think it's gonna get up over Astro Bot and Echoes of Wisdom, though.

• 18:11Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, I think Astro Bot's gonna take this one as well.

• 18:12Griffin McElroy?

  We could be so, we are basing these guesses entirely on how the VGA, VGA's have like operated in previous years and like-

• 18:20Russ Frushtick?

  Well, but we can also narrow down, like Outlaws is not taking it. Not a chance. Simon Hill 2, a remake, probably not gonna take it. And Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, I love, but it, it, it's not fucking Astro Bot.

• 18:32Griffin McElroy?

  Astro Bot or-

• 18:32Russ Frushtick?

  And it's not a Zelda game.

• 18:34Griffin McElroy?

  I don't know that the Zelda name is going to be enough to get over. I think Astro Bot is, is a better game than Echoes of Wisdom.

• 18:43Russ Frushtick?

  Agreed.

• 18:44Griffin McElroy?

  I think Echoes of Wisdom, uh, you know, it's not Breath of the Wild, it's not Tears of the Kingdom, it's not some mandatory-

• 18:50Russ Frushtick?

  I mean, I can tell you, it's not in our top whatever.

• 18:53Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, I don't think any of us sort of had it up in our top 10.

• 18:56Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 18:56Griffin McElroy?

  Uh, I think Astro Bot takes it.

• 18:58Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 18:58Griffin McElroy?

  Um, best action game, Black Myth Wukong, uh, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Helldivers 2, Stellar Blade, Warhammer 40,000 Space.

• 19:06Russ Frushtick?

  Stellar Blade's a surprising, surprising entry in here. I didn't know that there was a lot of support for Stellar Blade, but-

• 19:12Griffin McElroy?

  Um, yeah, I, I don't think it's gonna win it. I think this one maybe is Black Myth Wukong.

• 19:18Russ Frushtick?

  So there is a very large contingent of Black Myth Wukong, uh, folks out there that-

• 19:22Griffin McElroy?

  Yes.

• 19:23Russ Frushtick?

  You know, and we, we've seen its appearance in a number of different categories. And this is, I think, gonna determine a lot about whether it's gonna run the table in the categories is how unified that the voting block is for people that love Wukong.

• 19:36Griffin McElroy?

  Is, is Wukong in the goatee?

• 19:39Russ Frushtick?

  Yes.

• 19:39Griffin McElroy?

  Category? It is?

• 19:40Russ Frushtick?

  Yes.

• 19:41Griffin McElroy?

  Um, yeah, I think it's gonna take this. I don't, I don't think there's anything in here that- I think you could maybe Helldivers 2, but I, I, I don't, I don't know. I feel like Black Myth Wukong has a much larger footprint.

• 19:53Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, I think Wukong is is gonna end up taking that one.

• 19:56Griffin McElroy?

  Let's go past best VR AR game.

• 19:59Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, I am. Yeah, I haven't played Batman Arkham Shadow yet, but I really, really want to because it got great reviews.

• 20:04Griffin McElroy?

  Oh, did it?

• 20:05Russ Frushtick?

  Asgard's Wrath 2.

• 20:06Griffin McElroy?

  I love the first Asgard's Wrath.

• 20:08Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 20:09Griffin McElroy?

  I just haven't played my headset since we did that, whatever that Dungeons of.

• 20:13Russ Frushtick?

  Oh, yeah, I like that.

• 20:14Griffin McElroy?

  Whatever game was. I really liked that one, but it's not nominated. Best mobile game. This one's interesting. AFK Journey, Bellatro, Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket, Wuthering Waves, and Zenless Zone Zero. Bellatro being on here.

• 20:28Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 20:28Griffin McElroy?

  I think is.

• 20:30Russ Frushtick?

  Unfair?

• 20:31Griffin McElroy?

  Unfair. Yeah, I don't think it's fair because Bellatro came to mobile, you know, seven months, eight months after it first came out.

• 20:40Russ Frushtick?

  Sure.

• 20:41Griffin McElroy?

  And there's, if we're considering all ports, like, I don't know. I think Bellatro makes this list because it's a smaller indie game, right? And so like.

• 20:51Russ Frushtick?

  I mean, it's a really fucking good.

• 20:53Griffin McElroy?

  It's a really good mobile game. Yeah, I guess so.

• 20:56Russ Frushtick?

  I don't know that we can like knock it because it came out on other platforms first necessarily like it came out before the voting happened on mobile.

• 21:03Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, I would say it's either Bellatro. I think it's almost definitely Bellatro. I think Zenless Zone Zero maybe has a chance to squeak.

• 21:10Russ Frushtick?

  You don't think Pokemon? I think.

• 21:12Griffin McElroy?

  No, I don't think Pokemon. I enjoy the Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket. I've collected them all. I feel good about that.

• 21:18Russ Frushtick?

  True, yeah. And it's a good thing they're not releasing any more cards, so you'll always have them all.

• 21:22Griffin McElroy?

  Um, that's it. I might just delete the game now, so I don't have to keep pursuing it. I got my rare Chase animated Mew card. I'm not looking to, you know, lose my shirt. Okay, best debut indie game. Animal Well, Bellatro, Manor Lords, Pacific Drive, The Plucky Squire.

• 21:41Russ Frushtick?

  Okay.

• 21:41Griffin McElroy?

  I've seen a lot. Let's talk about Bellatro. Bellatro's up for a lot of stuff, including game of the year. Uh, and I feel like this has happened a lot of times where there has been a game that has been nominated for a bunch of stuff, including game of the year, an indie game. That also is nominated for best indie game, that is also nominated for best debut. Debut indie game and it gets all of them, right? You that is the precedent that has been set by the game awards.

• 22:09Russ Frushtick?

  It does happen usually because people just like, oh, I've locked into this pick. So I'm going to pick it every time that category shows up.

• 22:15Griffin McElroy?

  Yes. Um, what is the, what is the, I was reading the polygon sort of guess on, on some.

• 22:21Russ Frushtick?

  Oh, yeah, we've been doing, uh, yeah, Ali has been writing a great article series about predicting winners for each of the categories.

• 22:27Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah. So Cuphead, Cuphead won independent game and then one debut as well. So did Disco Elysium, Keen and Bridge of Spirits and Stray. So like this, this has happened quite a bit. So to hop up to best independent game, because it's somewhat, I mean, it's quite similar.

• 22:45Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 22:45Griffin McElroy?

  It's Animal Well, Bellatro, Loreline, The Laser Eyes, Nava and UFO 50. So like I, I, I really think there's a good chance of Bellatro just going, going ham.

• 22:57Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, I think so too. As much as I would want to like see a split vote here and do like debut indie to like Animal Well and best indie to Bellatro, something like that. Or UFO 50 for that matter.

• 23:08Griffin McElroy?

  I'd love a UFO 50 win, but I don't think it is going to happen. I think Bellatro wins best independent game, definitely.

• 23:16Russ Frushtick?

  Yes.

• 23:17Griffin McElroy?

  I think best debut indie game.

• 23:19Russ Frushtick?

  I think it's going to be Bellatro.

• 23:20Griffin McElroy?

  I think it's going to be Bellatro. I would love an Animal Well win there though. Okay. Best community support.

• 23:27Russ Frushtick?

  Okay. So the category name is kind of funny because it sounds like we're just like, who, which community manager was doing the best job? But I think this is just like updating games.

• 23:36Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah. Which is different from best ongoing game in no way at all.

• 23:41Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, I don't know how, wait, are the category?

• 23:45Griffin McElroy?

  These are two different categories. I don't get it. I don't know. I don't know why. Why is this show so long?

• 23:53Griffin McElroy?

  Why does the show have to be so long? It is literally, it is unwatchable in a literal sense for me. I can't sit and watch a three and a half hour long award show. I simply can't.

• 24:02Russ Frushtick?

  I mean, here's what I'm going to say. Epic gave its community with its support for its community Godzilla.

• 24:10Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 24:11Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, I mean, of these, it's Baldur's Gate 3. I don't know what Baldur's Gate 3 is doing on there.

• 24:16Russ Frushtick?

  They've been doing free updates, basically, the whole year.

• 24:18Griffin McElroy?

  That's cool. But why not in best ongoing ga- okay, Final Fantasy XIV, Fortnite, Helldivers 2, No Man's Sky. Yes, Fortnite, I think. Best ongoing game, Destiny 2, Diablo 4, Final Fantasy XIV, Fortnite, Helldivers 2.

• 24:33Russ Frushtick?

  I wanna, you know, I think here, I'm gonna, I'm gonna take a step back. Here's what I think the difference is. I think community support is free updates, constantly updating the game.

• 24:42Griffin McElroy?

  Okay.

• 24:42Russ Frushtick?

  And I think best ongoing game is the game itself. Is the game fun? That's my personal definition of it. And if that's the definition, I think it's No Man's Sky for best community support and probably Fortnite.

• 24:57Griffin McElroy?

  For best ongoing game?

• 24:58Russ Frushtick?

  For best ongoing game. That'd be my.

• 24:59Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah. I mean, this is the, I feel, Destiny 2 has never won this category and has been nominated for it, I think, most years.

• 25:07Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, you think it's gonna be like the Emeritus?

• 25:09Griffin McElroy?

  No, I don't. I don't think the VGA's work like that.

• 25:12Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, probably not.

• 25:13Griffin McElroy?

  I feel like there's usually not an Emeritus chip in. But this was a good year for Destiny 2, at least a good first half of the year when Final Shape dropped.

• 25:23Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah. But. Now they're just taking naps. Bungies have a big old nap.

• 25:26Griffin McElroy?

  I don't know what's going on over there. I feel like sometimes I get.

• 25:29Russ Frushtick?

  They've got a new game. They're working on it.

• 25:30Griffin McElroy?

  I get glanced off of the side of like that community and it's like, I see people get angry and I'm like, okay, okay.

• 25:36Russ Frushtick?

  So much has changed over the years.

• 25:37Griffin McElroy?

  Um, I think maybe Diablo 4 could take it, just because a Diablo expansion is such a big fucking deal.

• 25:44Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 25:45Griffin McElroy?

  But I, yeah, my guess is either that or Fortnite. Games for impact, uh, I, I don't have much to say about.

• 25:52Russ Frushtick?

  Not sure what the intent is, so let's go ahead and skip.

• 25:55Griffin McElroy?

  That one's just a guess.

• 25:56Russ Frushtick?

  Accessibility.

• 25:57Griffin McElroy?

  Yes.

• 25:58Russ Frushtick?

  Also, I, I don't know the list of like the accessibility features for all of these games. I know they all included a lot of accessibility features, but I don't feel qualified to determine which was the best.

• 26:08Griffin McElroy?

  The most accessible, yeah, that's fair.

• 26:10Russ Frushtick?

  I'm just glad they all tried.

• 26:11Griffin McElroy?

  Sure. Uh, best performance, Brianna White, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Who was that? Who did Brianna White play? Brianna White played, uh. Eris, I believe, or Aerith, if you will. Hannah Tell, Life is Strange, Double Exposure. Humbly Gonzalez for Star Wars Outlaws.

• 26:30Russ Frushtick?

  Probably the lead of.

• 26:31Griffin McElroy?

  Silent Hill 2, I'm imagining is the lead of that. And Melina Jurgens for Sin was Saga: Hellblade 2.

• 26:38Russ Frushtick?

  I mean, she was very good. Of what I played, I didn't like the game at all. But her performance in Hellblade 2 was pretty through the roof great.

• 26:46Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, yeah, I think that that is a game that is a, that showcases performance maybe more than any other. So I think that that is very likely to.

• 26:56Russ Frushtick?

  I guess as someone who has played Final Fantasy VII all the way through, which I haven't, Rebirth, all the way through. Does Aerith like bring it at one point?

• 27:04Griffin McElroy?

  I mean, always. It's, it's.

• 27:05Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, she's very good.

• 27:06Griffin McElroy?

  It's a fantastic performance, and I think that that is a hard role to nail, the kind of like etherealness, but also like.

• 27:15Russ Frushtick?

  She's gotta get pissed sometimes.

• 27:16Griffin McElroy?

  What?

• 27:17Russ Frushtick?

  She's gotta get pissed sometimes.

• 27:19Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, like, yeah, there's, there's, there's quite a bit of depth there, and I think that that's, I think that she does a great job with it.

• 27:24Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 27:25Griffin McElroy?

  But I don't know, I think Sin was Saga. It's like how there's Oscar bait movies.

• 27:29Russ Frushtick?

  Yes.

• 27:30Griffin McElroy?

  Like, I feel like this is sort of like that in terms of these type of VGA's.

• 27:35Russ Frushtick?

  Agreed.

• 27:35Griffin McElroy?

  Best audio design?

• 27:37Russ Frushtick?

  I am not qualified.

• 27:38Griffin McElroy?

  It's Astro Bot, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Sin was Saga: Hellblade 2, or Silent Hill 2. I think Astro Bot is fucking gorgeously.

• 27:46Russ Frushtick?

  Oh, that is true.

• 27:46Griffin McElroy?

  Designed. I also think Silent Hill 2 is a game that is maybe exclusively about audio design and not at all about visual design.

• 27:54Russ Frushtick?

  But how much of that was like majorly different from the audio design that was in the original game?

• 27:58Griffin McElroy?

  Well, I mean, you got to think about like the audio of the original game was like produced on a fucking 8-track.

• 28:05Russ Frushtick?

  No, I'm sure they had to redo it.

• 28:07Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, I mean, I don't, I don't, I don't know, I think that the, I think audio design, when one is having to like, uh, update it over. Of, you know, 20 years of hardware changes. I think, I think that it counts again.

• 28:22Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 28:23Griffin McElroy?

  Best score and music. Astro Bot, fucking great.

• 28:27Russ Frushtick?

  Fucking.

• 28:27Griffin McElroy?

  Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, also pretty good. Metaphor Refentazio.

• 28:32Russ Frushtick?

  I really liked the music in that game.

• 28:34Griffin McElroy?

  Fucking great. Silent Hill 2 has music?

• 28:37Russ Frushtick?

  Too scary.

• 28:38Griffin McElroy?

  Jesus Christ, man. That battle theme of Metaphor Refentazio slaps pretty hard.

• 28:43Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, it's pretty great. I think it'll.

• 28:44Griffin McElroy?

  Every level I play in Astro Bot, every level I play in Astro Bot is like, pretty funky.

• 28:51Russ Frushtick?

  So good.

• 28:51Griffin McElroy?

  It's pretty good stuff.

• 28:53Russ Frushtick?

  And I do think for Rebirth, I think they probably, to correct me if I'm wrong, lean a lot on the score that was introduced in the first game.

• 29:00Griffin McElroy?

  It is very, very, very much so. They do a lot of, it may be Rebirth just in how clever they get with those adaptations sometimes. Like, the main battle theme is not the da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. It is a, it's like a battle version of the main Final Fantasy VII theme. It's like a da, da, da, da, da.

• 29:26Russ Frushtick?

  And you're gonna be onstage, correct?

• 29:28Griffin McElroy?

  And I'll be onstage and I'll be doing that.

• 29:30Russ Frushtick?

  Okay, cool.

• 29:32Griffin McElroy?

  So, I don't know. Probably, probably Astro Bot.

• 29:35Russ Frushtick?

  I think Astro Bot.

• 29:36Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah. Best art direction, Astro Bot, uh, Astro Bot, Black Myth Wukong, Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree, Metaphor Refentazio, or Never?

• 29:46Russ Frushtick?

  I think, I mean, Astro Bot is my probably art direction.

• 29:50Griffin McElroy?

  It has a lot of art in it. Although Shadow of the Erdtree, I mean,

• 29:54Russ Frushtick?

  Erdtree is, looks fucking sick.

• 29:56Griffin McElroy?

  If it can't get this one, like, all their games look so fucking sick, man.

• 30:00Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 30:02Griffin McElroy?

  Black Myth Wukong was a very, like, visually striking game, but I don't know if it has, is of the kind of scale of Astro Bot or Elden Ring. So I'd say it's one of those two. Best narrative, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I fucking hope not. Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth, yeah, dog.

• 30:19Russ Frushtick?

  I love it.

• 30:19Griffin McElroy?

  Metaphor Refentazio, yeah. Sinwell Saga, Hellblade 2, and Silent Hill 2.

• 30:25Russ Frushtick?

  Okay, so I think it's down to the top three Final Fantasy VII: Like a Dragon and Metaphor.

• 30:30Griffin McElroy?

  Man, is there anyone who liked where the story of Final Fantasy VII went?

• 30:35Russ Frushtick?

  I've spoken to a lot of people that are diehard Final Fantasy people, not just Griffin McElroy, and it seems like none of them like the end.

• 30:43Griffin McElroy?

  Nobody likes it. They're doing too much multiverse bullshit and no one likes that. So I don't, I don't even understand what it's doing here. Uh, I, man, this would be great for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth to get in there because it has my favorite story.

• 30:57Russ Frushtick?

  It does have a great story. I'm completely enraptured by that story. So that would be my pick for this.

• 31:02Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah. Uh, best adaptation, real quick, it's, it's going to be Arcane or Fallout. It's not going to be-

• 31:08Russ Frushtick?

  I gotta be real. Let's take a second to give some props to Knuckles, which is legit-

• 31:12Griffin McElroy?

  Great, great, fun, lot of fun. Like a Dragon: Yakuza, I haven't watched it yet. Tomb Raider: Legend of Lara Croft, I haven't watched that yet. Arcane, Fallout is one of those two. Fallout was such a big deal, but Arcane-

• 31:26Russ Frushtick?

  I think it's gonna be Fallout. Arcane, people love Arcane, but I think, I feel like this season came pretty late in the voting process, like-

• 31:33Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah.

• 31:33Russ Frushtick?

  Last month or so, and Fallout just like dropped a, sorry, a bomb.

• 31:38Griffin McElroy?

  Fallout, yeah, yikes. Fallout like got its hooks in people outside of the usual realm of people who would watch a video game adaptation. Uh, I have heard Arcane is excellent. Uh, I've watched half the first season and did not finish it. Um, but-

• 31:57Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, I hear it's very, very good.

• 31:58Griffin McElroy?

  Second season is excellent. Uh, best game direction, we're coming down to the final two.

• 32:01Russ Frushtick?

  This is the dumbest category in the entire-

• 32:04Griffin McElroy?

  Of course, of course.

• 32:04Russ Frushtick?

  List.

• 32:05Griffin McElroy?

  Best game direction, Astro Bot, Bellatro, Black Myth Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, or Metaphor: Refentazio. It's literally gang. It is literally gang, the same exact nominees as game of the year. So let's just do both of those, huh?

• 32:19Russ Frushtick?

  Okay. And what is, I even want to know what is game direction. What does that even mean?

• 32:23Griffin McElroy?

  We crank them on this every year, Russ, because it don't make no sense.

• 32:27Russ Frushtick?

  One last time. What the fuck do you mean, Jeff? Tell us, tell us what you mean.

• 32:31Griffin McElroy?

  To to to

• 32:31Russ Frushtick?

  It should just be complicated games at that point.

• 32:34Griffin McElroy?

  Yes.

• 32:35Russ Frushtick?

  But just based on how big your studio was and how many like HR meetings you had to have.

• 32:40Griffin McElroy?

  That's what it should be. We should get a list of like a total headcount at each studio and be like, the fact that you all managed to Bellatro, get the fuck out of here. You're like one guy. Come on, stop it. Um, yeah, I don't, I don't, let's get best game direction.

• 32:56Russ Frushtick?

  Game of the year.

• 32:56Griffin McElroy?

  Game of the year. Astro Bot, Bellatro, Black Myth, Wukong, Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Metaphor, Refinitzio.

• 33:04Russ Frushtick?

  Okay, let's lose the ones that we think have no shot. I think Erdtree has no shot.

• 33:08Griffin McElroy?

  I think Erdtree has no shot either. Um, it is the one that people are most fussy about. Yeah. Its inclusion being here.

• 33:14Russ Frushtick?

  It's a very good game, but.

• 33:15Griffin McElroy?

  Um, Bellatro would be a big upset, I think.

• 33:22Russ Frushtick?

  I think so too.

• 33:23Griffin McElroy?

  I love that it's here. Don't get me wrong. I love that that a game like Bellatro has been considered for game of the year. I think if you look at sheer like time spent playing games this year, Bellatro would rank pretty high for me.

• 33:37Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 33:37Griffin McElroy?

  And so I do, I do love it being here. I don't think it's going to take it. That leaves, I don't think Metaphor, Refinitzio.

• 33:44Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, I don't think so either.

• 33:45Griffin McElroy?

  I, I, I think that those are a little bit too niche. That leaves Astro Bot, Black Myth, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. I think of those Astro Bot probably takes it.

• 33:54Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, it's real. I think it comes down to Astro Bot and Black Myth, honestly, because I think Final Fantasy VII, whatever the remake, I think got the nod that year, if I recall correctly. And I think people want to mix it up and it's really just.

• 34:10Griffin McElroy?

  It would, it would be surprising for me. I don't understand the, I, you know, we're trying to guess at this point, the kind of like how the, how the jury will vote and that is a really abstract concept. So, yeah.

• 34:22Russ Frushtick?

  There's just a lot of people that considered Black Myth to be a fine game, but not a great game. And I think every single person that played Astro Bot was like, oh, this is a great fucking game.

• 34:32Griffin McElroy?

  Yes. Uh, yeah, I think Astro Bot's gonna win it. I think maybe there's a chance FF7 Rebirth sneaks in there. The VGA's, you can never really guess what the game of the year is going to be.

• 34:44Russ Frushtick?

  That fucking Divorce game won. You remember that Divorce game?

• 34:48Griffin McElroy?

  It Takes Two?

• 34:49Russ Frushtick?

  They turned into little dolls. Yeah.

• 34:51Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 34:51Russ Frushtick?

  That one. That was a good game, but like, game of the year?

• 34:55Griffin McElroy?

  Let's look at, I want to look at previous year winners. Uh, we get game award for game of the year on Wikipedia. Last year it was Baldur's Gate 3.

• 35:05Russ Frushtick?

  Great pick.

• 35:06Griffin McElroy?

  Uh, great pick. And then year before that, Elden Ring, sure. 2021, It Takes Two beats Deathloop, Metroid Dread, Psychonauts 2, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and Resident Evil Village. Weird year 2021.

• 35:18Russ Frushtick?

  That was a weird year.

• 35:19Griffin McElroy?

  2020, Last of Us Part 2. Uh, 2019, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, fuck yeah. 2018, God of War. 2017, Breath of the Wild, of course. 2016, Overwatch. 2015, Witcher 3, and 2014, Dragon Age: Inquisition. So I don't know, that didn't really help.

• 35:36Russ Frushtick?

  No, it didn't.

• 35:37Griffin McElroy?

  It didn't really help. I think Astro Bot's.

• 35:38Russ Frushtick?

  But it is wild to think that Dragon Age got like blanked in this.

• 35:42Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, no noms for Veil Guard whatsoever. Um, there's, I didn't care for it, but I, there's other games on this whole list that I didn't care for that did get nominated for stuff. Super Mario Party Jamboree is nominated for two categories. Cool.

• 35:59Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 36:00Griffin McElroy?

  Uh, alright, I'm so tired.

• 36:03Russ Frushtick?

  We did it. We guessed all the right answers. Before we end this segment, I have a quick question for you, Griffin.

• 36:07Griffin McElroy?

  Sure.

• 36:08Russ Frushtick?

  What is gonna open the show? It's probably gonna be a trailer. What trailer is it gonna be?

• 36:15Griffin McElroy?

  I don't know. So Henry, we went to a toy store this past weekend and Henry bought a Magic 8-Ball and I grabbed it and brought it up to my office. So I thought like, if we wanted to like, just check and see.

• 36:26Russ Frushtick?

  Okay, okay.

• 36:27Griffin McElroy?

  You know, like, like Hollow Knight Silksong, are we gonna get any Hollow Knight Silksong updates? Don't count on it.

• 36:33Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 36:34Griffin McElroy?

  That one's, that one's obvious. Um, new GTA 6 trailer, that's not gonna fucking happen. But yes, definitely, according to the 8-Ball.

• 36:43Russ Frushtick?

  Confirmed.

• 36:44Griffin McElroy?

  I don't think that they would do that, so.

• 36:46Russ Frushtick?

  No, they're not going to. The 8-Ball is wrong.

• 36:48Griffin McElroy?

  The credibility on that one is incorrect.

• 36:50Russ Frushtick?

  I think, here's my prediction.

• 36:52Griffin McElroy?

  Okay.

• 36:53Russ Frushtick?

  Death Stranding 2 is gonna open the show with a weird-ass fucking trailer.

• 36:56Griffin McElroy?

  That would be great. I would love that. I would love the tone of the show to be set by a baby climbing out of someone's throat, or whatever the fuck. Um, let's take a break, and I want to hear about what it's like to actually be at one of these things, Russ.

• 37:10Russ Frushtick?

  Oh, boy.

• 37:11Griffin McElroy?

  We'll be right back.

• 37:13Russ Frushtick?

  Okay, so for the people listening at home, and maybe, you know, maybe they watch the Game Awards every year. Maybe they get excited, and they see all the announcements, and they see all the people having such a good time in the audience. I thought that I would share, as someone who's attended the Game Awards once, what it is like to be in the audience of the Game Awards.

• 37:31Griffin McElroy?

  What, when, what was this? What year?

• 37:32Russ Frushtick?

  Last year.

• 37:34Griffin McElroy?

  Okay.

• 37:34Russ Frushtick?

  I was there. So this is very recent. So, here's the thing about the Game Awards. The Game Awards happen, I think they start at like 4:30 or 5:00 PM Pacific time, which is smack dab in the middle of dinner. And you should know, if you happen to have tickets and plan on going, please, for the love of God, eat something before you go, because there is very, very little sustenance in that theater. So, you've watched a lot of trailers, and you got no... Anything in your stomach. You've got nothing.

• 38:07Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, I mean, there's not, I imagine, a snack booth.

• 38:11Russ Frushtick?

  Unless they have like a collab with Taco Bell, where they're like, hand and chalupa's out. Like, you're gonna be really hard up. So like, as much, as thrilled as someone might be to win an award, they'd probably be more thrilled to be handed out like a cupful of nuts.

• 38:25Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah. That would be cool. They should have, you know, Paul Rudd running down the aisle, handing people bottles of water.

• 38:31Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 38:32Griffin McElroy?

  As he loves to do. That would be sick.

• 38:35Russ Frushtick?

  It's, it's a, um, I don't know if it's because I'm jaded, and I've been to award shows before, not the Game Awards, that was my first time at the Game Awards, but I've been to like, GDC Awards, which is fun, but there's just like, a ton of downtime when it's something that is broadcast.

• 38:50Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah.

• 38:50Russ Frushtick?

  Because you have to run ads, and you have to, whatever. So... I it's not an experience that I would you would have to be like really a diehard fan to want to be in the room itself because if you're not, you would be so much happier at home just watching a stream.

• 39:07Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah. Who's it who's it for? Who's that for?

• 39:12Russ Frushtick?

  The people that are in the audience, you mean?

• 39:14Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah.

• 39:15Russ Frushtick?

  Uh, I think it's industry. I mean, it's a lot of people that were like nominated for awards or companies, you know, it's like a it's like a networking rah rah us kind of night, which is nice.

• 39:25Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, sure. That's cool.

• 39:26Russ Frushtick?

  There aren't many of those.

• 39:27Griffin McElroy?

  No.

• 39:27Russ Frushtick?

  Um, I don't, I mean, again, the public can go as far as I'm aware, their tickets, they sell tickets. I don't think they sell as many tickets that they used to to the public. I think it's a lot of that room is sold, but I don't know, man. If you're in the back of the LA Live, wherever it happens, and you're just watching Jeff Keighley on a big screen, like you could be watching Jeff Keighley on your big screen at home, having a nice steak dinner.

• 39:52Griffin McElroy?

  Um, I

• 39:52Russ Frushtick?

  Please don't do that.

• 39:54Griffin McElroy?

  We used to live blog these things back when people live blogged these things. Does Polygon still do live blogs?

• 40:02Russ Frushtick?

  Well, I wouldn't describe it as live blogging per se, but we'll certainly have reporters all night covering, you know, because it's a huge news night. It's probably the biggest news night of the year at this point, given that E3 has like gotten weird.

• 40:14Griffin McElroy?

  God, that's fucking weird, man.

• 40:15Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah. So what was that experience like when you were live blogging it?

• 40:19Griffin McElroy?

  Uh, it was always pretty intense. I remember there was one year Justin was visiting Austin, uh, and we live blogged it together from his like Airbnb that he was staying in. We got a bunch of, um, got a bunch of burgers and fries from Pete Terry's and tore those up and I got a tummy ache and then the show never ended.

• 40:41Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 40:41Griffin McElroy?

  My wife at the time, Rach, I mean, she's still my wife. I don't know why I said it at the time.

• 40:45Russ Frushtick?

  Well, she was at the time, too.

• 40:46Griffin McElroy?

  Rachel was like, this is outrageous because she watched it with us and she was like, why is it so? I don't understand why it is still going. It's always been pretty long. It has only gotten longer. I would love a tight two hour game award.

• 40:59Russ Frushtick?

  Here's the slight edit that I would make and maybe Jeff is listening and he can he can. Bought this in. If we could know the amount of money that changed hands for the placement of a given trailer, that'd be really helpful. Cause you, sometimes you know, like, oh, this is not a trailer that they wanted in there just because editorially, this is like a great moment for a trailer. This is like, we're paying some bills right here. And knowing, hey, this game is so shitty that they needed to pay $300,000 for a placement would kinda help.

• 41:31Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah.

• 41:31Russ Frushtick?

  Just from a watching standpoint, I'd like, kinda like to know that.

• 41:34Griffin McElroy?

  Um, I've seen some lists of like supposed leaked announcements that are coming.

• 41:40Russ Frushtick?

  Oh.

• 41:41Griffin McElroy?

  I mean, I don't like talking about those things because it seems like just complete.

• 41:46Russ Frushtick?

  You think it's spoilies?

• 41:48Griffin McElroy?

  Uh, some, some spoilies, but uh, it's, I didn't see anything on there that really blew me away. Apparently Keely, what has Keely said about? I feel like Keely usually does try to couch.

• 41:59Russ Frushtick?

  He does. He tends to be like, we're gonna have a good night versus we've got 37 world exclusives.

• 42:05Griffin McElroy?

  Sometimes it's that. Um, but the whole industry is in a kind of weird waiting period, like, right? Like, you're not gonna see a bunch of Nintendo stuff. You usually don't at the Game Awards, but you're not gonna see any now, I feel like, until the Switch 2 gets announced.

• 42:21Russ Frushtick?

  Can you fucking believe if Keely pulled such a coup that like the thing starts and big fucking Mario's face shows up on the screen? And you're like pinching it like in Mario 64?

• 42:31Griffin McElroy?

  It's the Switch 2 announcement.

• 42:32Russ Frushtick?

  Yes. Can you fucking believe if he pulled that off?

• 42:36Griffin McElroy?

  No, Russ.

• 42:37Russ Frushtick?

  He would be unstoppable. He would be Thanos.

• 42:39Griffin McElroy?

  He would be Thanos, but he's not. There's not gonna be a Switch 2 announcement at the, at the Game Awards that is absolute poppycock. And I won't be party to it.

• 42:48Russ Frushtick?

  I know. Half-Life 3 though.

• 42:50Griffin McElroy?

  Half-Life 3 for sure. Uh, what else we got going on?

• 42:54Russ Frushtick?

  We've got some reader mail. Do we wanna do some reader mail real quick?

• 42:57Griffin McElroy?

  Um, JD Cohen says, damn it, Russ, they're peppercorns.

• 43:00Russ Frushtick?

  Okay, so the pickle shapes that we discussed last week. JD is saying that they're peppercorns. I don't think, I mean, one of them might be, the ball, the hardball, might be a peppercorn.

• 43:11Griffin McElroy?

  That sounds like a peppercorn, yeah.

• 43:12Russ Frushtick?

  But peppercorns aren't rectangles.

• 43:16Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, no, not traditionally.

• 43:18Russ Frushtick?

  No.

• 43:19Griffin McElroy?

  So most, most like, you know, stuff that grows in nature is not a rectangle naturally. There's very few natural.

• 43:26Russ Frushtick?

  What about those watermelons in Japan?

• 43:28Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, again, not a natural shape in nature are the cubed watermelons.

• 43:35Griffin McElroy?

  This is from.

• 43:36Russ Frushtick?

  Slyfer Jam.

• 43:38Griffin McElroy?

  Thank you. For anyone who enjoys the new Half-Life 2 commentary, Valve also has full commentaries for Half-Life 2 Lost Coast, Half-Life 2 Episodes 1 and 2, Portal, Portal 2, Left 4 Dead 1 and 2, Team Fortress 2, and Half-Life: Alyx. So everything else, basically.

• 43:52Russ Frushtick?

  Basically everything else. Are they missing anything at this? I guess Half-Life 1 does not have commentary. Probably technologically speaking, they couldn't pull it off.

• 43:59Griffin McElroy?

  No. Wild that Half-Life 2 was last sort of on the list.

• 44:05Russ Frushtick?

  Well, they needed a justification for why they should spend time. I do like the idea that someone would play through Half-Life: Alyx with commentary and just like you're slamming the VR headset on and you're like, I'm just gonna listen to this guy talk about fucking shaders for a while.

• 44:18Griffin McElroy?

  Hmm, okay, interesting.

• 44:20Russ Frushtick?

  That's the dream.

• 44:23Griffin McElroy?

  Tim B's, my big heads up for the UFO 50 on retro handhelds question. Some of the games included in UFO 50 have slowdown, even on the better Linux-based devices. I bought an RGB 10 Max 3 as my dedicated UFO 50 handheld, and games like Ninpak and The Towns in Grimstone run very slowly. The developer of the port has confirmed that there's no slowdown on the new Retroid Pocket devices that support Portmaster, but at that point, you're spending like $200. Russ, those new Retroid Pocket 5s look pretty hot.

• 44:49Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, they do look very good. I would say that it's probably not worth spending $200 just to play UFO 50 on one of those devices.

• 45:00Griffin McElroy?

  No.

• 45:02Russ Frushtick?

  What I played, I didn't play all the games. I just played a couple. And what I played on the RG35XXH was playable, but I did notice a little bit of slowdown. So if you're looking for a fully perfect experience, yeah, you should, you should do real research. I, I think this is probably right. The Retroid Pocket devices can do it, but you would have to probably install Linux.

• 45:24Griffin McElroy?

  Those are Android-based, right?

• 45:25Russ Frushtick?

  Well, you can install Linux on those devices. Uh, so that, but it just adds to the complexity of it at a certain point. You know, I've said this to you, Griffin, my dream smaller handheld at this point.

• 45:36Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah.

• 45:37Russ Frushtick?

  Is something that can run SteamOS. And right now Valve does not allow third-party devices to run SteamOS. There are some workarounds and some like shells that you can do that like allow you to kind of do it. But my hope is that like, look, a fucking Switch Lite form factor running Steam games, like bring it.

• 45:56Griffin McElroy?

  Oh, man, that Odin 2, the, uh, and the Odin 2, I think Portal is the new one.

• 46:01Russ Frushtick?

  That's the big one.

• 46:02Griffin McElroy?

  It's like a bigger one. Yeah, those like those, my, the Odin Pro, I think is the one that I have now that I like. When I got the hankering to play like Dark Cloud 2, I want to like get into PS2 games and knock those out pretty well.

• 46:16Russ Frushtick?

  Did it, yeah, it require like a lot of tinkering to get those things running?

• 46:19Griffin McElroy?

  Quite a bit of tinkering to get some of those PS2 games to work. Yeah.

• 46:22Russ Frushtick?

  Time, man, to do that tinkering stuff.

• 46:24Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, I don't know that I'm at the point where I want a new retro handheld bad enough to actually go out and buy it. But it's getting close. I can feel it.

• 46:32Russ Frushtick?

  You're experiencing it. This is how you should experience it, which is just like, oh, that looks really cool. And then wait two weeks.

• 46:38Griffin McElroy?

  Literally, they are only getting cooler and stronger and better and smaller and whatever.

• 46:42Russ Frushtick?

  Moving very quickly. Uh, so yeah, I, I, I think there's no big rush in buying anything at the moment.

• 46:47Griffin McElroy?

  Hey, let's do honorable mentions.

• 46:49Russ Frushtick?

  Let's do it.

• 46:50Griffin McElroy?

  You been playing anything?

• 46:52Russ Frushtick?

  Uh, yeah. So I've been playing through the GTA trilogy. I've talked about it a few times. This is the remastered trilogy. I'm playing it on Steam Deck. I am on to Vice City.

• 47:01Griffin McElroy?

  Okay.

• 47:02Russ Frushtick?

  Beat GTA 3, um, which still holds up in my opinion. It's a little rough. I didn't think the nostalgia was carrying GTA 3 a little bit, but it is fucking wild how much of a leap Vice City is over GTA 3.

• 47:16Griffin McElroy?

  It's insane. Yeah.

• 47:17Russ Frushtick?

  And that game came out one year after GTA 3 came out.

• 47:22Griffin McElroy?

  Well, I think they, I think they learned a lot from GTA 3, right?

• 47:26Russ Frushtick?

  But a fucking year?

• 47:27Griffin McElroy?

  Ah, yeah, I don't know. I don't know.

• 47:29Russ Frushtick?

  Five to six has been, what has it been? 10 years?

• 47:32Griffin McElroy?

  It's been a million, billion years.

• 47:34Russ Frushtick?

  I realize the scale is a little bit different, but like, there is so much that they like just quality of life improvements and gameplay features.

• 47:41Griffin McElroy?

  Sure.

• 47:41Russ Frushtick?

  That only one person could drive a car in GTA 3. You could never have more than one person in a car.

• 47:47Griffin McElroy?

  That's, that's bonkers. I didn't realize that. Yeah. Uh, yeah, man. I remember when Vice City came out, it like took me by surprise. I was pretty plugged into like, I read most gaming mags.

• 48:00Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 48:01Griffin McElroy?

  Uh, but still Vice City came out and I remember seeing it playable at like a demo station at EB and thinking like, what the fuck? Like, how did this happen?

• 48:11Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 48:11Griffin McElroy?

  I just-

• 48:12Russ Frushtick?

  Well, cause the game GTA 3 came out in October of 2021.

• 48:16Griffin McElroy?

  No.

• 48:16Russ Frushtick?

  2001.

• 48:17Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah.

• 48:18Russ Frushtick?

  October. Uh, and then in May was when Vice City got announced. So imagine GTA 3 wins all these game of year awards, blows everyone away. How the fuck is this possible? And four months later?

• 48:29Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah.

• 48:29Russ Frushtick?

  There's a fucking follow-up that's like dramat- I mean, it didn't come out then, but like one year later it was out.

• 48:34Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah.

• 48:35Russ Frushtick?

  A lot of that has to do with the fact that they started development while, obviously while GTA 3 was in development. Uh, but I think it was initially planned as an expansion pack and they were like, fuck it, we can blow this out.

• 48:46Griffin McElroy?

  That's it.

• 48:47Russ Frushtick?

  It's great.

• 48:49Griffin McElroy?

  Anything else?

• 48:49Russ Frushtick?

  Um, that's pretty much it for us. There's been a lot of illness in the household, so we're just kinda hanging in and hunkering.

• 48:58Griffin McElroy?

  Uh, I finished Dragon Quest III HD 2D remake.

• 49:02Russ Frushtick?

  Oh my god. What's your playtime like? How long that-

• 49:05Griffin McElroy?

  Oh, like 15 hours?

• 49:07Russ Frushtick?

  Oh, that's not too bad.

• 49:08Griffin McElroy?

  You can truck through that thing.

• 49:09Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, that's not bad.

• 49:11Griffin McElroy?

  I, uh, it's fine. It's good. It looks good. It's again comfort food. It is not gonna crack my goody list, I don't think, but I enjoyed uh, my time with it. It chilled me out. It was very much a vibe, but I don't think it-

• 49:25Russ Frushtick?

  Maybe we'll have an honorable mention category for whatever was the most vibe.

• 49:29Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, that one's gonna be up there. Still, I'm going to be playing UFO 50 for a long time and I want people to go ahead and get used to that. Uh, just a quick cherry update. Seaside Drive, got that cherry just barely.

• 49:41Russ Frushtick?

  That's tough. That's a tough one.

• 49:43Griffin McElroy?

  Tough one. That is a hard one. I think you have to get 30,000. I got like 30,100.

• 49:47Russ Frushtick?

  Oh my god, I didn't realize there was a score requirement.

• 49:49Griffin McElroy?

  There's a score requirement on that one. Uh, and Tactics, cherry'd that. And I'm nearly done with Warp Tank, which I really have been enjoying.

• 49:57Russ Frushtick?

  Warp Tank's cool.

• 49:58Griffin McElroy?

  Warp Tank is very, very cool. Um-

• 50:01Russ Frushtick?

  Let me ask you, how many, are you like guiding a lot of this stuff before you start playing or how are you doing it?

• 50:05Griffin McElroy?

  Uh, not-

• 50:07Russ Frushtick?

  Well, cause like Val Brays, for example, I know the cherry in that is like a little esoteric.

• 50:11Griffin McElroy?

  Yes, I did look up the cherry on Valvebrace because I did not want to get, you know, 10 hours into it. It's one of the few games, they call it an epic play where it has save, save states essentially. And I did not want to, you can fuck yourself over in Valvebrace where you get to the last level and it's too late for you to do the things you need to do to get the cherry. Um, but no, for the most part, like, uh, Tactics is just, you've gotta get pretty good at it, pretty fast. At Seaside Drive, you've just gotta fucking do it. I have been kind of like going back and forth between games that are, um, easier to complete and get the cherry on, uh, because it's just about like persistence and knowledge and like,

• 50:52Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 50:52Griffin McElroy?

  like a block koala is just, you have to beat every level, right? You don't have to beat every level to beat the game. You only have to beat like 40. But if you want the cherry, you have to beat all 50 levels. That's like doable because you just have to solve more puzzles.

• 51:05Russ Frushtick?

  Sure, yeah.

• 51:05Griffin McElroy?

  Whereas in Seaside Drive, it's like, or, um, uh, Vel, Velgrace, I think is another one, or any of the like hell, bullet hell shooters are like, you actually just have to be very good. Uh, so I've been kind of like going back and forth between games like Night Manor, which is pretty easy to cherry, and then like a more twitchy game. I still have not done NIPAC. Um, I have also been replaying with Henry, uh, Super Mario Odyssey.

• 51:32Russ Frushtick?

  Whoa.

• 51:33Griffin McElroy?

  What a good game. What a very good game.

• 51:36Russ Frushtick?

  They should make another one of those.

• 51:38Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, they should probably make another one. It's been interesting. Um, and maybe I'll talk about this here because I don't want it, it'll be so, uh, non-helpful in a game of the year discussion. Um, I really enjoy Astro Bot. I enjoy like the design of it and the tone of it and how lighthearted and clever it is. It has, it has been unable to like hook me in a way where I am eager to go back and play more of it.

• 52:07Russ Frushtick?

  Sure.

• 52:07Griffin McElroy?

  Which is for me, kind of like a huge thing. It's kind of like a huge motivator, uh, is, is to feel this like hook to keep coming back and playing more of it. Uh, and I, playing Odyssey has kind Kind of illuminated, I think, a little bit, kind of what I am not getting totally stuck in with. And in Odyssey, just the amount, the sheer amount of tech and discovery in each of those gigantic worlds is so exciting to me in a way that like hunting down all the little bots in each, you know, linear level of Astro Bot has, has not.

• 52:46Griffin McElroy?

  It's a, it is entirely, this is not to denigrate Astro Bot as a game as much as it is a sort of structural preference.

• 52:54Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 52:54Griffin McElroy?

  Uh, in like, I love that Mario Odyssey is just, this world's fucking huge. And if you find something that's cool and exciting. Whereas in Astro Bot, if I find an Astro Bot and then I see that it, when it joins the line, there's like two or three missing and I can't go back.

• 53:10Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, sure.

• 53:10Griffin McElroy?

  Fuck. Um, and I also just enjoy the tech of Mario movement of just like the hat dive and all that being sort of like really, you can get so nasty with that.

• 53:21Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, that was the, I think the one area that it's very clear, like Astro Bot, I mean, they're going to make a fucking sequel. And the one area that I could see them expanding on is like the Astro Bot, just their movement options because.

• 53:34Griffin McElroy?

  It feels good to move around in Astro Bot. It feels good that laser hover jump, like it feels good. It does not feel like I am the world's greatest platforming gamer.

• 53:42Russ Frushtick?

  And I could turn into a fucking ball whenever I want.

• 53:44Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 53:45Russ Frushtick?

  Or whatever it is.

• 53:46Griffin McElroy?

  Henry beat, uh, Odyssey. Now we're going back and like playing all the, you know, going back and looking for more moons. But like I showed him in that final like Mushroom Kingdom level, like actually you can do this. And I showed him like the hat dive down a hill into a ball, super speed roll. And he was like, what in the world?

• 54:01Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 54:02Griffin McElroy?

  There's like, I don't know. There's so much.

• 54:04Russ Frushtick?

  Skill ceiling in.

• 54:05Griffin McElroy?

  It's a skill ceiling. I don't know. All, all that stuff to me is sort of like very, very exciting. And that game is just, I can't believe how good that game is. It will never not be astonishing to me that that game and Breath of the Wild came out in the same year, same, same, yeah, same few months.

• 54:18Russ Frushtick?

  Insane, totally insane.

• 54:20Griffin McElroy?

  Uh, I think that's probably going to do it for us.

• 54:22Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, I think we did it. Uh, I want to thank the, uh, patrons over at Patreon.com slash the besties. We have a new bracket battles episode up. It is for best food in video games, best in-game food.

• 54:35Griffin McElroy?

  That's a good one. Hey, gang, it's a good one. That one is.

• 54:38Russ Frushtick?

  Actually, what we can give you a clip right here. Here's a clip.

• 54:42Griffin McElroy?

  Who put in boiled crab? Cause that one was early on the list and like it's, that seems like a pretty outside choice.

• 54:48Speaker 02

  It's such a funny icon.

• 54:51Russ Frushtick?

  I put both of them in. I entered both of them and if you've played Elden Ring and you're a min maxer like I am, you would probably know that boiled crab as an item is one of the best items in Elden Ring as a consumable. It provides a huge benefit to your damage reduction for a full 60 seconds, which is usually enough for a boss fight. And if you don't have 99 of them, you're doing it wrong.

• 55:15Griffin McElroy?

  Yeah. How do you get 99? You just buy them?

• 55:18Russ Frushtick?

  You buy them.

• 55:18Griffin McElroy?

  At a crab store?

• 55:19Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, there's a guy, he's a vendor. I killed him so that I could buy them from my main hub.

• 55:24Griffin McElroy?

  That's cool.

• 55:25Russ Frushtick?

  I felt bad about it, but.

• 55:26Speaker 02

  It's like, men have died for many worse reasons, Russ.

• 55:30Griffin McElroy?

  It's like you murdered Trader Joe's so that you could get his stuff on Amazon.

• 55:35Speaker 02

  You became a traitor to Trader Joe's.

• 55:40Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, we had, we had fun with that one. It just adds up. If you have a, someone in your life that loves the besties, but can't necessarily afford the Patreon, you can gift Patreons to people. We have a link, it's patreon.com slash thebesties slash gift. And you can, you know, give a month or a full year subscription to besties content, which is great. I also wanted to thank the following patrons. We have Finian, we have Mike S, we have Brent, and we have Little Mel. Thank you for being patrons. Thank you to everyone else for being patrons. Y'all are awesome.

• 56:17Griffin McElroy?

  Thank you all so much for joining us. And by us, I mean just me and Russ. An intimate time for you, the listener. Next week though, next week though?

• 56:27Russ Frushtick?

  The gang is.

• 56:28Griffin McElroy?

  It's going down for real.

• 56:31Russ Frushtick?

  The gang is gonna be back. We're gonna be all four of us duking it out for part one of our game of the year. Spectacular.

• 56:39Griffin McElroy?

  We're doing some different stuff with it. We've discussed doing some different stuff with it.

• 56:44Russ Frushtick?

  I think, yeah, we change it a little bit every year and I think this year is no different.

• 56:48Griffin McElroy?

  Just looking at sort of our personal faves, we're having listeners pick the final four?

• 56:55Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah, that's so we've, I think, shared with the listeners our 12, which was determined of looking at our top 10 lists.

• 57:02Griffin McElroy?

  Okay.

• 57:02Russ Frushtick?

  And then the final four will be listener picks that we will discuss, which is not a different thing. We've done that several years in the past.

• 57:10Griffin McElroy?

  So yeah, Godey, part one, next week, join us as the battle begins and it's going to be a fun one, I think, just looking at the games we're all excited about.

• 57:20Russ Frushtick?

  It's a big range. Looking at all of our top, top 10s is like not, there's definitely crossover, but not as much crossover as there usually.

• 57:27Griffin McElroy?

  No clear winner, not like, you know, in years past.

• 57:31Russ Frushtick?

  Yeah.

• 57:32Griffin McElroy?

  So it'll be, it'll be a fun discussion, I think. I don't think it'll get nasty this year.

• 57:36Russ Frushtick?

  No, it'll be nice.

• 57:37Griffin McElroy?

  Because we're all adults.

• 57:38Russ Frushtick?

  We'll hug.

• 57:39Griffin McElroy?

  It'll be great. So join us next week for the besties because shouldn't the world's best friends pick the world's best games?