Our Predictions for 2025

Jason, Kirk, and Maddy revisit last year's predictions to see what game they'll be playing this year, then go through some new predictions for 2025, from the Nintendo Switch 2 to... new Half-Life?

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

• 0:04Kirk Hamilton?

  It's a new year and everyone's making predictions. So here's a prediction for you. In 2025, video games are going to be pretty cool. Welcome to Triple Click, where we bring the games to you. We also bring the predictions to you, which is what we're doing this week as we revisit our predictions from last year and make a whole bunch more for 2025. There's a lot of prognosticating to do, so let's get into it.

• 0:30Kirk Hamilton?

  I'm Kirk Hamilton.

• 0:32Speaker 01

  I'm Maddy Myers.

• 0:33Jason Schreier?

  And I'm Jason Schreier. Hello.

• 0:35Speaker 01

  Hello.

• 0:36Jason Schreier?

  Hello, my friends.

• 0:38Kirk Hamilton?

  Happy New Year.

• 0:38Jason Schreier?

  Are you ready for the first episode of 2025?

• 0:41Speaker 01

  I'm ready. 2025, gotta remember it.

• 0:44Jason Schreier?

  It's exciting.

• 0:45Speaker 01

  It's a new year, new number.

• 0:47Jason Schreier?

  Gotta remember to write it on all your checks.

• 0:50Speaker 01

  Right, all the checks I'm writing. It just comes up all the time for me.

• 0:54Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, I gotta remember to stop writing null and void on all my checks.

• 0:59Speaker 01

  Yeah. You just keep accidentally, compulsively writing that every time you see a check.

• 1:05Jason Schreier?

  My landlord is like, null and void, this is supposed to be 2025.

• 1:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, luckily I can write checks because...

• 1:16Kirk Hamilton?

  Because of our wonderful listeners who support our show.

• 1:20Speaker 01

  There you go.

• 1:21Kirk Hamilton?

  I was letting you guys just kind of peter out there and just to see where the null and void joke is going.

• 1:25Jason Schreier?

  I was petered out like five hours ago.

• 1:28Kirk Hamilton?

  Yes, we are, as always, a listener-supported show. And now in 2025, we're even more listener-supported than ever. No, just kidding, we're the exact same amount of listeners supported, which is entirely listener-supported. We really appreciate all of you out there who are members of Maximum Fun and make it possible for us to make this show. We don't have sponsors, we don't have ads, we don't deal with any of that nonsense. It's just us and you, and that's very special. So yeah, if you want to become a member, go to maximumfun.org/join. Become a member of Maximum Fun, make it your 2025 New Year's resolution that you're going to support some listener-supported media that you enjoy. And if you become a member, of course, you will get access to loads of bonus episodes.

• 2:13Kirk Hamilton?

  We release one every month. There is, I don't know, talk about movies, there's talk about our lives, there's talk about cooking. We did a three-part D and D campaign last year. There's a bunch of spoiler episodes for games that we have talked about on the main feed episodes. And coming up this month, at the end of January, there will be a big discussion of Metaphor Refentazio, full of spoilers, talking about everything that happens in that game and what we thought of it. Really fun conversation that we had on that bonus episode. So yeah, become a member. Anyways, maximumfun.org/join. And thank you so much to everybody who supports our show. All right, it's time to get into it. Jason, take us away.

• 2:51Jason Schreier?

  This week, we are talking about predictions. It is time for the fan favorite episode of the year. This week, we are going to go through last year's predictions and make some new ones for the year to come. So, real quick, in case you're tuning in for the first time, here's how this works. Every year, the three of us play a little game where we each make 10 predictions, plus a bonus. And we figure out throughout the course of the year who got the most right. And whoever got the most right gets to pick a game that we all play throughout that year. And so, we all made predictions this time last year for 2024. Today, we're going to revisit them all and figure out whose game we are going to play. And then, we're going to make some new ones. And so, up top, I should just talk a little

• 3:36Jason Schreier?

  bit about our rules for this exercise, which include no delays, no like, this game will be delayed, nothing subjective. We have to have kind of tangible results here. Predictions we can point to and say, yes, this is objectively correct. And no inside info, which makes it difficult for some of us to resist the urge to do predictions about things that we might know or have heard rumors about.

• 4:02Speaker 01

  But that'd be no fun.

• 4:04Jason Schreier?

  Yes. Oh, yes. This is how, this is how. And you can tell that we're, well, we'll get to how you can tell that we're not cheating.

• 4:13Speaker 01

  You can tell by our hint, right?

• 4:15Kirk Hamilton?

  Jason's first example did not use inside information.

• 4:17Speaker 01

  Whether or not we know anything at all about what we're saying.

• 4:20Jason Schreier?

  Hey, man, spoilers. And one more quick thing before we get into last year's predictions. That we will be spoiling the ending for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, since that was relevant to all three of our predictions.

• 4:32Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 4:33Jason Schreier?

  Be warned, we will be spoiling that. Skip ahead to the 2025 predictions if you don't want to be spoiled on the ending of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Okay, let's get into it. We're gonna go 1% at a time. Why don't we each read our full list of predictions one at a time and then the, and then we'll discuss like whether they're right or wrong. So Kirk, why don't you start us off?

• 4:55Kirk Hamilton?

  Okay, I will start us off. My first prediction, drumroll please. The new Nintendo console will have Switch in the name. No, this, well, this didn't happen.

• 5:07Jason Schreier?

  And no, since it was not announced, this is kind of.

• 5:10Speaker 01

  Not, not applicable.

• 5:12Kirk Hamilton?

  The most disappointing kind of prediction.

• 5:13Jason Schreier?

  All of our predictions about Switch 2 are just an immediate no because it was not announced last year.

• 5:20Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, it's, it's much more fun to get a wrong than a TBD. But this one's a wrong because it is TBD. Okay. Number two, Ubisoft will be acquired. Nope, did not happen.

• 5:31Jason Schreier?

  Did not happen.

• 5:32Kirk Hamilton?

  Number three, and this is when we get into spoilery territory. Aerith will still die in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. And I got this one.

• 5:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:43Kirk Hamilton?

  She does in fact die.

• 5:44Speaker 01

  Ding ding ding.

• 5:45Jason Schreier?

  Yeah.

• 5:46Kirk Hamilton?

  This was a prediction I went back and forth on too. I know we all predicted one way or the other.

• 5:50Jason Schreier?

  Left, I, I will say though, it's possible that the third one is like, nope, she didn't die because it's left so ambiguous.

• 5:57Speaker 01

  It doesn't matter though.

• 5:58Jason Schreier?

  It does seem like she died at the end of this one. So I think it's a yes.

• 6:02Speaker 01

  And the, the rule says rebirth in Kirk's prediction. So I think we have to give it to him.

• 6:06Kirk Hamilton?

  And if that happens, we can go back and we can like cancel out the point like a year later.

• 6:11Jason Schreier?

  Exactly. And we won't play the game, we'll unplay the game. Maddie, no, I'm saying that it'll, I'm not saying that the third one will reverse the decision. I'm saying the third one will reveal that she did not in fact die and she's actually alive. But regardless, I think it's a win for Kirk. So that's one, one correct prediction so far.

• 6:30Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah. And what is death in the context of the live stream?

• 6:32Speaker 01

  So true.

• 6:34Kirk Hamilton?

  So moving on, my next prediction is an indie game from a small team will win game of the year at the game awards. Unfortunately, Palato did not win, so that's a no. Next, Nintendo will announce a remake of A Link to the Past. Nope, that just didn't happen. Next, at least one video game will use generative AI in the game itself. Now, this might have happened in some like really minor context, but I was talking about, you know, like a major game has like NPCs that fully talk to you using generative AI, and that did not happen. Next, we have Bethesda/Microsoft will announce an Elder Scrolls TV show. It's a pretty fun prediction, but it didn't happen. Next, Hollow Knight: Silk Song will come out in May.

• 7:19Kirk Hamilton?

  Not only did it not come out in May, it didn't come out at all.

• 7:25Kirk Hamilton?

  Second to last, we have Valve will announce a non-VR Half-Life game. Didn't happen. Was rumored to happen, but didn't happen. And finally, Nvidia will announce a Steam Deck competitor, which did not happen. Then my bonus outlandish prediction was Apple buys Nintendo. Didn't happen, as far as I know. And my game is Far Cry 2. So that's one point for me.

• 7:53Jason Schreier?

  Okay, one point for Kirk. Matty, you're up next.

• 7:56Speaker 01

  Okay, my first one was the Switch 2 will be called the Super Nintendo Switch. I didn't win this, as far as I know. My next one, Metroid Prime 4 will be a launch game on the Switch 2 in 2024. That didn't happen, would have been nice. Number three, Summer Game Fest 2024 will get material participation from either Sony or Nintendo. Okay, I thought, I actually thought I predicted the opposite of this. Is this written down wrong? I thought I wrote that it wouldn't get material participation from either of them.

• 8:33Jason Schreier?

  Well, that was the original one, and then we switched it on the air because I pointed out that that would be status quo for them to not be there.

• 8:42Speaker 01

  So then, do I win this because Sony participated?

• 8:45Jason Schreier?

  You do. I was on SGF campus, and I played Sony.

• 8:49Speaker 01

  I came into this episode thinking I got nothing.

• 8:52Jason Schreier?

  I played PlayStation games on Summer Game Fest campus, so yes, you win this.

• 8:55Speaker 01

  Oh my god, I got a point.

• 8:56Kirk Hamilton?

  One point for Matty.

• 8:58Speaker 01

  Whoa, this changes everything. Okay. Well, continuing on.

• 9:02Kirk Hamilton?

  This is how low the bar is. Getting one right, it's like, the whole thing is up in the air.

• 9:06Speaker 01

  Kurt, I literally thought I got zero points heading into this episode. So this is actually really exciting for me. Anyway, uh, my next one, Warner Brothers will announce a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy. This did not happen.

• 9:17Jason Schreier?

  I don't think that you win this because it wasn't like announced or the teaser or a name or a trailer or anything. But like during an executive interview, Warner Brothers mentioned like, yeah, we have a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy in the works. So I don't know if that really counts for prediction purposes.

• 9:32Speaker 01

  Wouldn't count that personally.

• 9:34Jason Schreier?

  Hmm. I also think, I think it was very obvious that was one was in the works. I think the spirit of this prediction is that it would be announced so quickly.

• 9:41Speaker 01

  An announcement, an actual splash screen somewhere, that kind of thing.

• 9:46Jason Schreier?

  So it's a no.

• 9:47Speaker 01

  Yeah. Tears of the, this is my next one. Tears of the Kingdom will announce DLC after all. Would have been cool. Did not occur.

• 9:55Kirk Hamilton?

  Too bad.

• 9:56Speaker 01

  Next one, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth will not kill off that one character who we all know died in the original game. And instead a different character will be killed in that same way. This did not occur. And my next prediction was, three major games will use AI voices in a method similar to the finals. Meaning human actors' performances are bolstered by AI trained on their voices. This didn't happen. And in fact, AI is a real sticking point for voice actors right now. It's one of the things they're striking over and arguing about. So kind of the opposite of this happened, if anything. And then my seventh prediction was, or whatever, I don't know what number I'm on. My next prediction was Jeff Keighley will become embroiled in a career threatening scandal.

• 10:42Speaker 01

  In parentheses, people will refer to him as canceled. As we all know, this happened. Just kidding. It didn't happen. That man is squeaky freaking clean. Very, very humorous prediction, but I don't know why I thought that would occur. Uh, my ninth prediction, we will see a major biopic film announced about a video game streamer. This didn't happen. I can't believe it still hasn't, but.

• 11:04Kirk Hamilton?

  The ninja movie is still in development hell.

• 11:07Speaker 01

  Uh, and then last but not least, Dragon Age Dread Wolf will be canceled. No, it wasn't. I played it.

• 11:14Jason Schreier?

  Well, Dragon Age Dread Wolf was canceled and Dragon Age The Veil Guard came out.

• 11:19Speaker 01

  I don't, I mean, I don't know. I feel like in a way, in another very important way, I won this prediction.

• 11:26Jason Schreier?

  All right. What's your bonus end game?

• 11:28Speaker 01

  Um, my bonus wacky prediction was Kristen Stewart will get cast as Link in the Zelda movie. This could still happen. Uh, and my game, if I win, is, uh, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Apparently I have one point.

• 11:44Jason Schreier?

  Nice. One and one. Wow. Impressive. Joey so far.

• 11:47Speaker 01

  Whoa, neck and neck.

• 11:48Kirk Hamilton?

  Killing it so far.

• 11:49Jason Schreier?

  All right, my turn. Uh, my predictions are, number one, Metroid Prime 4 will launch on Switch and Switch 2, uh, TBD. Number two, Konami will release the Sekai remastered collection within four weeks of Ayodin Chronicle. This did not happen. The Sekai remastered collection is coming out in March of this year. Um, number three, a different character will die instead of Aerith. That did not happen. Same one as Manny's. Number four, Elden Ring DLC is so substantial, it turns into a standalone budget priced game, like Uncharted: Lost Legacy. So this was, uh, referring to the DLC that became Shadow of the Erdtree. But a different Elden Ring budget price game did just get announced.

• 12:31Kirk Hamilton?

  It's a tricky one. I don't know what to do with this one.

• 12:33Jason Schreier?

  It is a tricky one. So I was specifically referring to the Elden Ring DLC that was announced at that point.

• 12:39Speaker 01

  And it says DLC here.

• 12:40Jason Schreier?

  It's hard for me to argue that this is a win for me, but you could definitely argue that like this multiplayer thing that is coming out.

• 12:48Kirk Hamilton?

  It's very close. Yeah.

• 12:50Jason Schreier?

  Turned into like DLC that turned into a thing, but I'm not gonna even, I don't think I deserve the win, so I won't take it. Um, number five, Nintendo will do something substantial with the mother series. That did not happen. Number six, Apple will announce a big budget exclusive game for Apple Vision Pro. That did not happen. In fact.

• 13:08Kirk Hamilton?

  Remember the Apple Vision Pro?

• 13:10Jason Schreier?

  Apple Vision Pro is basically dead.

• 13:12Speaker 01

  Yeah. RIP.

• 13:14Jason Schreier?

  Uh, number seven, uh, Civilization VII will be announced and released this year. I made that too hard for myself because it was announced.

• 13:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 13:22Jason Schreier?

  But.

• 13:23Kirk Hamilton?

  You could have just made it announced.

• 13:24Speaker 01

  You could have just gone with announce.

• 13:25Jason Schreier?

  Yeah.

• 13:26Kirk Hamilton?

  Live and learn.

• 13:27Jason Schreier?

  Oh, well, zero points for me. We used to do half points back in the neighborhood and we killed them. Uh, number eight, Microsoft's Activision will bring back Guitar Hero. That did not happen as far as we know. Uh, number nine, the new Switch will make you pay for backwards compatibility. TBD was not announced. And number 10, Saudi Arabia will buy a major video game company. You know what's funny? Saudi Arabia said last year in 2024, they said, we're looking to do a big purchase next year in 2025. And I saw that and I was like, damn. Um, my bonus is the Zelda movie will feature a completely silent link. Zelda movie.

• 14:02Kirk Hamilton?

  Would love that.

• 14:02Jason Schreier?

  There's nowhere to be seen.

• 14:03Speaker 01

  Iconic.

• 14:03Jason Schreier?

  And my game was cross code. We will not be paying cross code, playing cross code because I had a big whopping zero donut for me. So the verdict is Kirk one, Matty one, Jason zero. For you two, we have a tie, which means we'll have to go to the tiebreaker and the tiebreaker. Um, if you guys will remember, it was game awards predictions and in first place for that was me. In second place was Matty Myers and in third place was Kirk Hamilton, which means the winner of 2024 predictions is Matty Myers, who came in thinking she got zero.

• 14:39Kirk Hamilton?

  Congratulations, Matty Myers.

• 14:42Speaker 01

  This is actually legitimately shocking to me because I had my own prediction written down incorrectly.

• 14:48Jason Schreier?

  Do you guys see? I just want to show you in the back. Uh, if you look, I don't know if you can see it in the back of my camera right now, but like my 3DS is charging over there.

• 14:56Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 14:57Jason Schreier?

  Uh, we are going to be playing Ocarina of Time.

• 15:00Kirk Hamilton?

  I have to dig up my 3DS.

• 15:01Speaker 01

  This is the second time I have forced Jason to play a 3DS game.

• 15:06Jason Schreier?

  Matty, get this, the cartridge that was in there was Kirby Planet Romulan.

• 15:09Speaker 01

  I'm sure it is.

• 15:10Jason Schreier?

  That's the last time that I played it.

• 15:11Speaker 01

  And you still have a battery that doesn't stay charged, right? Like, wasn't that an issue last time?

• 15:17Kirk Hamilton?

  Oh, I kind of remember that, yeah.

• 15:19Jason Schreier?

  Uh, yeah, maybe, I don't know, it'll be fine.

• 15:22Kirk Hamilton?

  Cross that bridge when you get to it.

• 15:23Jason Schreier?

  I mean.

• 15:24Kirk Hamilton?

  Congratulations, Matty.

• 15:25Speaker 01

  Yay, oh my god.

• 15:26Jason Schreier?

  I mean, Ocarina of Time, I'm excited to re-

• 15:28Speaker 01

  I know, I love that game. This is gonna be so fun. Wow.

• 15:31Jason Schreier?

  Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh. So, uh, we will be figuring out exactly when we're gonna play that and talk about it. The three of us will huddle off air and we'll give everybody like a, a date in advance so that, um, you all, all you fine listeners can play it along with us and we'll talk about it. Um, I imagine it'll be a couple of episodes of really diving deep into that game, but we'll see. Um, and yeah, that's, that feels like a win for all three of us. So we get to play Zelda Ocarina of Time.

• 16:00Kirk Hamilton?

  I totally agree.

• 16:01Speaker 01

  I really recommend the 3DS version to the listeners, by the way. It's excellent. Really great control scheme on that one compared to the original, in my opinion, anyway.

• 16:10Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, cool. I agree.

• 16:12Jason Schreier?

  Um, all right. Well, now it's time for the main event, what we think is going to happen in 2025. You guys ready?

• 16:21Speaker 01

  Here we go.

• 16:22Jason Schreier?

  You prepared for this? Let's hope we get, we do better than 1-1 and 0 this time.

• 16:27Speaker 01

  Will we?

• 16:27Kirk Hamilton?

  Even if we don't. It's the friends we made along the way.

• 16:30Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, I, I actually, mine are a little bit easier on myself, but yeah, we'll see. Um, Kirk, take us away.

• 16:37Kirk Hamilton?

  All right, here we go. Here are my 10 predictions for 2025. Number one, at least one game will be released and then unreleased within the same year.

• 16:49Jason Schreier?

  The Concord Effect.

• 16:50Speaker 01

  It's like Concord.

• 16:50Kirk Hamilton?

  Yes. And now we've seen that become a trend, uh, that will happen. Number two.

• 16:54Jason Schreier?

  Wait, hold on. For, for one, I just want to be really specific with this. By unreleased, can unreleased mean that like, um, what does unreleased mean specifically? Does that mean it's not playable anymore? It's not on store shelves anymore? Like, what does it mean exactly, unreleased?

• 17:10Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, I guess not on store shelves anymore. Like, maybe, maybe if you own it, they let you keep it. I don't really know. You know, it could look like a few different things.

• 17:17Jason Schreier?

  But you can't buy it.

• 17:17Speaker 01

  You can't buy it.

• 17:18Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, like, it's like it comes out and then they're like, whoop, never mind, we're, we're not selling it anymore.

• 17:22Jason Schreier?

  Okay. I, I just want to make sure we're as specific as possible.

• 17:25Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 17:26Kirk Hamilton?

  So, number two, Hollow Knight: Silksong will actually come out. Number three, this is another repeat, Valve will announce a new non-VR Half-Life game.

• 17:37Speaker 01

  Shocked you're announcing this.

• 17:40Kirk Hamilton?

  I predicted this so many years.

• 17:41Speaker 01

  They're all just curve predictions so far. Well, not really number one, but.

• 17:46Kirk Hamilton?

  And one more, one more that I'm gonna just bring back because I'm annoyed not to get to find out whether it was right or not, and that is number four, the new Nintendo console will have the word switch in the name. Number five, Conan O'Brien or Jeff Keighley will appear in Death Stranding 2. This is an either or both situation.

• 18:05Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 18:06Jason Schreier?

  Didn't they both appear in the first one?

• 18:07Speaker 01

  So this would be reprising, yeah, this would be one or the other of them would be reprising their previous role.

• 18:12Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, they're gonna come back in Death Stranding 2.

• 18:14Speaker 01

  Although I guess we can count it if they play a different role.

• 18:17Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, right, right. Just that they're gonna, right, maybe they're like the son of the character from the first one, I don't know.

• 18:22Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 18:23Kirk Hamilton?

  The ghost's son. I don't know how Death Stranding lore really works. Number six, Valve will announce a new Steam controller that is on par with the Steam Deck. So like, that would like work with the control schemes for the Steam Deck, which the current Steam controller does not. So they will announce a new Steam controller. Number seven, you will be able to pet the dog in the Game Awards Game of the Year winner, i.e. the game will have a pet animal interact prompt.

• 18:51Speaker 01

  That's a good prediction. That seems likely.

• 18:53Kirk Hamilton?

  Thank you. I think it's really good.

• 18:55Jason Schreier?

  Well, how many, I feel like all games these days like allow you to do petting.

• 18:59Kirk Hamilton?

  Not all, not all.

• 19:00Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 19:02Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, not all.

• 19:03Jason Schreier?

  I'm not, I'm not pushing back on this. It's a very funny prediction.

• 19:06Kirk Hamilton?

  I don't actually really know how likely it is or not. I didn't like go do the math on every nominee.

• 19:10Speaker 01

  I mean, I don't think you can pet the dog in Astro Bot, so you would have lost this year. So.

• 19:15Kirk Hamilton?

  I wonder. You might be able to pet a dog in Astro.

• 19:18Jason Schreier?

  Pet things and I feel like you can, it's all about adorable interactions.

• 19:23Speaker 01

  That's true.

• 19:23Jason Schreier?

  Bellatro, you could not pet a dog.

• 19:25Speaker 01

  Right.

• 19:25Kirk Hamilton?

  No.

• 19:27Jason Schreier?

  Metaphor, Refentazio, I feel like you can pet things in Metaphor.

• 19:31Kirk Hamilton?

  I think you can pet cats in Metaphor. I think there's like a cat maybe.

• 19:34Jason Schreier?

  Seven, seven Rebirth, you can definitely pet things. So like you would have had a good chance last, last year.

• 19:41Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, well, we'll see. We'll see with next year. But yeah, that seemed like a fun one. Number eight, at least two Game Awards Game of the Year nominees will be for a studio's first game.

• 19:52Kirk Hamilton?

  So at least two of them will be like debut games from a studio.

• 19:55Speaker 01

  And this is for game of the year nominees.

• 19:57Kirk Hamilton?

  For game of the year.

• 19:58Speaker 01

  Not just the full game awards, because that wouldn't.

• 20:00Kirk Hamilton?

  No, no, no, no, just game of the year category. Number nine, in the new Fable, you will be able to plant an acorn and have it grow into a tree. That's a, oh, that's a callback for old Fable fans.

• 20:13Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 20:13Kirk Hamilton?

  Famous Peter Molyneux promise that he made about the very first Fable game that has yet to be true. And I predict there will be like some kind, they'll put that somehow in the new Fable game.

• 20:23Jason Schreier?

  Wasn't that one of your predictions at one point in the past? I feel like you've had a Fable acorn prediction at some point.

• 20:29Kirk Hamilton?

  I believe so, yes. Maybe I'm bringing it back from like.

• 20:32Speaker 01

  From like a previous Fable?

• 20:33Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 20:35Speaker 01

  Last time there was a Fable?

• 20:36Kirk Hamilton?

  Um, okay, and final prediction, number 10, Square Enix will announce Final Fantasy VII Return. So really, this is me predicting that the third Final Fantasy remaking will be announced and that the name will be FF7 Return. There are a lot of possibilities for this one, and I'm going with Return, but there's a lot that it could be. So I really don't know about this one, but that's my 10th prediction.

• 20:58Jason Schreier?

  How about Returnal, Final Fantasy VII Eternal?

• 21:01Kirk Hamilton?

  A lot of people suggested Final Fantasy VII Revengeance.

• 21:05Jason Schreier?

  That's good.

• 21:05Speaker 01

  A lot of people suggested that? Interesting.

• 21:08Kirk Hamilton?

  Yes.

• 21:09Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 21:09Jason Schreier?

  Okay.

• 21:10Kirk Hamilton?

  And that's it. Okay, so then my bonus, Nintendo will announce that they're bringing games to Steam.

• 21:18Kirk Hamilton?

  Fairly unlikely.

• 21:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 21:19Kirk Hamilton?

  And my game, I kind of went back and forth on this, but I think the one that would be most interesting to talk about would be Soma. So my game pick is Soma.

• 21:30Speaker 01

  I do love that game. You often pick games that I really like.

• 21:33Kirk Hamilton?

  I haven't played it in a long time.

• 21:35Speaker 01

  Should we note the bonus wild prediction is worth two points, right? I don't know if we explained that before.

• 21:40Jason Schreier?

  Oh, yeah, we forgot to say that. Yes, yes, yes.

• 21:41Speaker 01

  That's why there is a bonus wild prediction. If this is your first time.

• 21:44Kirk Hamilton?

  Extremely unlikely.

• 21:45Speaker 01

  Listening to this.

• 21:46Jason Schreier?

  It should really be worth like five points.

• 21:47Speaker 01

  It should, because it's never come true for any of us.

• 21:51Kirk Hamilton?

  Given how we score, two points.

• 21:53Jason Schreier?

  I guess, given our track record, yeah, two points is.

• 21:56Speaker 01

  Could be a deal breaker, actually, so.

• 21:58Kirk Hamilton?

  It would have turned this whole thing around this time, and I think last year as well.

• 22:02Jason Schreier?

  Okay, okay, okay.

• 22:04Kirk Hamilton?

  All right.

• 22:05Jason Schreier?

  Do you want to just kind of rattle them off real quick again, so people can hear them all?

• 22:10Kirk Hamilton?

  Uh, why don't we, what if we did that at the end?

• 22:11Jason Schreier?

  At the end, okay, yeah, we can do that.

• 22:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, sure.

• 22:14Jason Schreier?

  Matty, you're up.

• 22:15Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 22:17Speaker 01

  My first one, a Deadpool video game will get announced. I feel like he's overdue for one. He had a kind of bad one a few years ago, but he's back in action now. Two, the Guillermo family will get pushed out of controlling Ubisoft.

• 22:33Speaker 01

  Three, Metroid Prime 2 and 3 will get remasters released on the Switch in 2025. So we'll get the full trilogy on the Switch by the end of the year. Number four, this is a repeat prediction.

• 22:47Jason Schreier?

  Matty, does three, for three, are you saying any Switch? Like, it could be?

• 22:52Speaker 01

  Yeah, any Switch. Any Switch. I'm, yeah. I guess I'm kind of suggesting the original Switch. But let's say any Switch. Let's say any.

• 23:01Kirk Hamilton?

  Let yourself out. Yeah, let it be either.

• 23:03Jason Schreier?

  Okay.

• 23:04Speaker 01

  All right, number four. This is my repeat prediction. A full-length film will be screened in Fortnite. I just still think this is gonna happen at some point.

• 23:12Kirk Hamilton?

  Oh, yeah.

• 23:14Speaker 01

  Number five, a game made on Roblox will become a huge hit slash phenomenon on the scale of Pokemon Go or Among Us. Among Us, very Matty-style prediction. I feel like we'll know it when we see it. I know that's a little subjective, but we all kind of know what that means. Number six, Microsoft slash Xbox will remove the requirement for new Xbox games to be able to also run on the Xbox Series S.

• 23:41Kirk Hamilton?

  Oh, yeah, okay.

• 23:42Speaker 01

  Number seven, the Switch 2 won't be hindered by tariffs. So there's a couple ways this could happen, which I'm just saying, like, for the sake of the listeners understanding it, which is Trump could carve out an exception for them, which he did for certain Apple products in his last time being president, or he just might not do the tariffs thing entirely. Regardless, I don't think the Switch 2 is going to be impacted by them.

• 24:09Jason Schreier?

  How would you define impact?

• 24:11Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, that's the only thing that's tricky.

• 24:13Speaker 01

  Monetarily, like it, it, it's, it's pretty binary in that it's, it's the same as like when Apple products were like, had a specific, exceptive carve out last time. It's like either you have to pay an additional massive fee or you don't. And if the tariffs are in place, we'll know one way or the other if they affect everything.

• 24:33Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, this is outside of my like realm of expertise, but I believe that you know how to verify that so sure.

• 24:39Speaker 01

  Yeah. I mean, we can only hope. Here's why it probably wouldn't happen is because a lot of the parts are going to be manufactured in China. And like, that's the reason why Trump is imposing these tariffs is because he's trying to get manufacturing to happen in the United States. And part of how Tim Cook got away with it the first time around with Apple products is that they, he had Trump tour this factory in Texas and showed him that we manufacture some Apple stuff here. And he explained that Samsung is based out of Korea and how is he supposed to compete with them? I think it would actually be pretty hard for Nintendo to make a case like that to Trump. So I actually think this is pretty unlikely to happen.

• 25:16Kirk Hamilton?

  And they, they manufacture switches. Where are the switches manufactured now? Are they manufactured in China or in?

• 25:21Speaker 01

  Parts are manufactured in China. Yeah.

• 25:23Kirk Hamilton?

  Okay. And then they're shipped here from Japan? Like, do they, do we pay tariffs on them as Japanese goods? These are the things that I don't know because I'm a saxophonist.

• 25:33Jason Schreier?

  Right. That's the question I would wonder too. Like who, who is, if we're not-

• 25:38Speaker 01

  Who would we be paying the tariffs to?

• 25:40Jason Schreier?

  Well, if, if Nintendo is making them in Japan using Chinese parts, then the Chinese, then nothing from China is getting sold.

• 25:47Speaker 01

  But the tariffs apply to anything that's shipped from out of the country, at least according to what Trump's proposing now.

• 25:54Kirk Hamilton?

  Hmm. Yeah, I guess I just don't know whether, I don't really understand it. So that's, so I don't know.

• 26:01Speaker 01

  If you want, I can put in a different prediction here. If you guys feel like this is just too confusing for you. I got, I went kind of down the rabbit hole and read a bunch about this today.

• 26:07Jason Schreier?

  I feel like it might be just tricky to like even figure out, like we might not know the answer to this by the end of this year.

• 26:16Speaker 01

  That's fair. All right. I'll replace it with Half Life 3 will be announced. That's one of my backups.

• 26:23Jason Schreier?

  Okay.

• 26:23Kirk Hamilton?

  Take it.

• 26:24Speaker 01

  It's fine. Um, all right. Number eight. Uh, Silk Song will get a release date announcement that will be, it's out right now. Parentheses, which means I am also implicitly predicting Silk Song comes out in 2025. But if there's a slight modification on that.

• 26:41Jason Schreier?

  But yours is even harder than Kirk's. So you're making it harder for yourself.

• 26:44Speaker 01

  But I just feel like they do that for us at this point. You know what I mean? I hope so. Uh, number nine, there will be two more prominent live service game failures in 2025 in the style of Conquered and Suicide Squad.

• 27:00Kirk Hamilton?

  Everybody kind of sees these, these ones coming.

• 27:02Speaker 01

  Yeah. I mean, I hope not. Like, so, well, that's the one where I'm like, I actually hope this doesn't come true. Uh, and number 10, Waluigi will figure into a new Mario game.

• 27:13Kirk Hamilton?

  Oh, okay. We're gonna get some, the return of Waluigi.

• 27:16Speaker 01

  So he'll, he'll, he'll come back in somewhere.

• 27:18Kirk Hamilton?

  Okay.

• 27:19Speaker 01

  Uh, and my bonus prediction, you guys are gonna love this. Half-Life 4 will be announced.

• 27:27Kirk Hamilton?

  They're like, we, they do like, gave Newell in front of the Marvel thing. 17 different Half-Life titles.

• 27:34Jason Schreier?

  I love that. I love that. What if it's like Half-Life 3, Episodes 1, 2, and 3, or something like that?

• 27:41Speaker 01

  Like they, they put out Half-Life 3 and then they're like, and, and they like show a big 4.

• 27:46Jason Schreier?

  One more thing.

• 27:49Jason Schreier?

  Amazing.

• 27:49Speaker 01

  This will definitely happen. Um, I'm returning to an old standby, which is Super Metroid. I, I still just think it would be cool if we played that and I lost the last time I picked it. So maybe this is my year. Who knows?

• 28:05Jason Schreier?

  It's the year of Matty. Okay, cool. Um, all right. My predictions. Um, I just changed a couple on the fly so they don't overlap with you two, because I wanna space things up a little bit.

• 28:16Speaker 01

  Good.

• 28:17Jason Schreier?

  Although one of them, I think all three of us have, but let's do it. Number one, Ubisoft will be sold. Um, I actually, this is a little different than yours, Matty, because the Guillermo's could still.

• 28:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, I had a really specific one.

• 28:31Jason Schreier?

  We'll be in charge if it's sold. I was gonna do a specific one, like we'll be sold to Saudi Arabia, but I decided to make it easier on myself.

• 28:41Jason Schreier?

  Number two, an Xbox Studios game will be nominated for game of the year at the Game Awards, which, believe it or not, has never happened before in 10 years.

• 28:50Kirk Hamilton?

  Not ever?

• 28:51Jason Schreier?

  Not ever. Isn't that crazy?

• 28:53Kirk Hamilton?

  I guess Skyrim doesn't count because it wasn't an Xbox Studios game.

• 28:56Jason Schreier?

  Well, also, well, okay, so specifically the Game Awards, which only started in 2014. I have a look back at like the Spike Game Awards or something. But the one that started in 2014, never nominated in Xbox. But to your point, Kirk, yes, other Bethesda games have been nominated, but were not part of Xbox at the time. Now I'm saying for the first time ever, Xbox is gonna have a game nominated for game of the year. Number three, a non VR Half-Life game will be announced. So I think we all win a point if that happens.

• 29:25Speaker 01

  So that's equal.

• 29:26Kirk Hamilton?

  I mean, and we all win more than a point.

• 29:28Speaker 01

  We do.

• 29:29Kirk Hamilton?

  We win a new Half-Life game.

• 29:30Jason Schreier?

  That's true. We all win a new Half-Life game. That's true. It's a good thing we played Half-Life 2 in preparation for this moment.

• 29:36Kirk Hamilton?

  Hell, yeah.

• 29:38Jason Schreier?

  Number four, a PlayStation game will be announced for PC within three months of its PlayStation 5 release. So in other words, this is betting that the time between PlayStation and PC release is going to be a lot shorter than it has been. So like, for example, right now Spider-Man 2 is about to come to PC a year and three months after it came out for PlayStation. I'm saying that window is gonna be shortened to three months.

• 30:05Kirk Hamilton?

  The only thing I would suggest, or is there a way we can clarify that you're talking about like a single player, one of those?

• 30:10Jason Schreier?

  Yeah.

• 30:10Kirk Hamilton?

  Because all their service games have simultaneously released.

• 30:14Jason Schreier?

  Yes, not, not one of the, yeah, not one of the ones they've already said will be simultaneous. So not a Helldivers type game. Yes, a single player, like PlayStation Studios game.

• 30:24Kirk Hamilton?

  Maybe like add some language that clarifies that in the prediction itself.

• 30:27Jason Schreier?

  A single player.

• 30:30Jason Schreier?

  PlayStation game, or like, I mean-

• 30:33Speaker 01

  Any game with a staggered release, because it can't apply to something that launches simultaneously.

• 30:37Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, yeah. And when I say single player, I don't want to get pedantic about like if Ghost of Yotai-

• 30:42Kirk Hamilton?

  Totally get what you mean.

• 30:44Speaker 01

  We'll pardon that.

• 30:45Jason Schreier?

  Okay, cool. Ghost of Yotai would be a perfect example if that happens.

• 30:49Speaker 01

  Right, right.

• 30:50Jason Schreier?

  Um, number five, Ace Attorney 7 will be announced.

• 30:54Speaker 01

  Ooh, okay. Why not?

• 30:57Jason Schreier?

  That's kind of my wishful thinking.

• 30:58Kirk Hamilton?

  That would be pretty great, yeah.

• 31:00Jason Schreier?

  Number six, Bobby Kotick will get involved with the Trump administration in some way.

• 31:05Speaker 01

  Oh, god.

• 31:06Kirk Hamilton?

  That one seems pretty likely, huh?

• 31:08Speaker 01

  It kind of does, doesn't it? Okay.

• 31:10Kirk Hamilton?

  Not that you shouldn't make it, but just that I don't like thinking about it.

• 31:13Speaker 01

  I mean, yeah.

• 31:15Jason Schreier?

  Number seven, EA CEO Andrew Wilson will step down.

• 31:19Kirk Hamilton?

  Oh, okay.

• 31:21Jason Schreier?

  Maybe to like run Disney or something like that, run another company. Number eight, the Switch 2 will have mass shortages, mass product shortages. Is that specific enough?

• 31:32Speaker 01

  That seems very likely.

• 31:34Jason Schreier?

  A little bit?

• 31:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:35Kirk Hamilton?

  Like-

• 31:36Jason Schreier?

  Well, there are a lot of things we've all said that seem likely.

• 31:39Speaker 01

  I know, but-

• 31:39Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, no, I think it's fine. I think there's like a way to clarify. I mean, I know exactly what you mean. It's basically just like a way of defining what that means.

• 31:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

• 31:46Kirk Hamilton?

  I'm picturing the thing where it's like you just can't get one forever, the way it was with the PS5. That's basically what you're predicting.

• 31:51Jason Schreier?

  Um, I'm gonna say, uh, Switch 2 will be impossible to get until at least Black Friday, until at least the holidays.

• 32:00Speaker 01

  This is perfect. This is how I did it when the PS5 launched. Yeah, I think we put a time limit on it.

• 32:05Kirk Hamilton?

  This is obviously not impossible. Like, it'll be just like you have to get in a queue and do a whole crazy Best Buy like blitz.

• 32:12Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, well, okay, will not be on store shelves. Like, you will not be able to drop by and buy it on a whim.

• 32:19Speaker 01

  Get it.

• 32:20Kirk Hamilton?

  And that's how we've phrased it previously with like some high constraints.

• 32:24Speaker 01

  Because I had a prediction like this that's coming back to me now about the PS5.

• 32:28Jason Schreier?

  Number nine, this is a repeat for me, Metroid Prime 4 will launch on Switch and Switch 2, day one of the Switch 2. So it's gonna come out on day one of Switch 2 for both consoles?

• 32:41Kirk Hamilton?

  And be cross-platform.

• 32:42Jason Schreier?

  Yes. Um, and number 10, there will be fewer video game industry layoffs this year than there were last year.

• 32:50Speaker 01

  Okay, how are you gonna measure that?

• 32:52Jason Schreier?

  Well, there's like, there's layoff trackers that do a pretty good job of estimating it. So what I'll do is I'll like, we'll use the same layoff tracker.

• 33:00Speaker 01

  Got it. Okay, yeah.

• 33:01Jason Schreier?

  So whoever tracks the data.

• 33:03Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, I mean, that seems like the common industry wisdom, but also like, I'd love it to be true. And that's totally fine with me as a prediction.

• 33:10Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, I mean, it could be, I don't know if it's common industry wisdom. It's like.

• 33:17Kirk Hamilton?

  Oh, I feel like I've seen that prediction around, but like.

• 33:19Jason Schreier?

  It's definitely a prediction.

• 33:20Kirk Hamilton?

  It's still just a prediction, yeah.

• 33:21Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, I just don't know, like, nobody really knows what's gonna happen. My bonus is that Amazon will pull out of the video game industry entirely.

• 33:30Kirk Hamilton?

  Okay.

• 33:31Jason Schreier?

  So like, shut down their entire.

• 33:32Kirk Hamilton?

  How do we know if they do that?

• 33:33Jason Schreier?

  Well, they will shut down Amazon Games, like, Amazon Games, which is a pretty substantial thing.

• 33:38Speaker 01

  In some way.

• 33:39Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, oh, yeah. Yeah, oh, that would be, thousands of people would be affected. If that happens, it might, my last prediction might be wrong if that were to happen.

• 33:50Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, sure.

• 33:51Jason Schreier?

  But it just like, it would be pretty wild. And my video game is, drumroll please, Chrono Trigger.

• 33:59Speaker 01

  Oh, my god. All right.

• 34:01Kirk Hamilton?

  Fairly long, but, um, but, you know.

• 34:03Speaker 01

  We'll get through it somehow.

• 34:05Jason Schreier?

  Not as long as others.

• 34:06Kirk Hamilton?

  No, and, and a great game that would be fun to play.

• 34:09Jason Schreier?

  Also, again, I wanted to pick a game that we'd all be excited to play.

• 34:15Speaker 01

  It's got good music.

• 34:16Jason Schreier?

  So, should we just do a quick review of each of ours? Kirk, you wanna kind of rapid fire?

• 34:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, let's do it.

• 34:22Kirk Hamilton?

  Let's do a rapid fire recap. Okay, my predictions. At least one game will be released and then unreleased within the year. Hollow Knight: Silk Song will actually come out. Valve will announce a new non-VR Half-Life game. The new Nintendo console will have the word "Switch" in the name. Conan O'Brien or Jeff Keighley will appear in Death Stranding 2. Valve will announce a new Steam controller that's on par with the Steam Deck. You will be able to pet the dog in the Game Awards Game of the Year winner, i.e. the game will have a pet animal interact prompt. At least two TGA Game of the Year nominees will be for a studio's first game. In the new Fable, you will be able to plant an acorn and have it grow into a tree.

• 35:07Kirk Hamilton?

  And Square Enix will announce Final Fantasy VII: Return.

• 35:13Jason Schreier?

  It's a good title.

• 35:13Kirk Hamilton?

  Those are my 10. My bonus is Nintendo will announce they're bringing games to Steam. Oh, and my game is Soma.

• 35:20Jason Schreier?

  Um, wasn't the one we were all kind of theorizing about last year reunion, like Final Fantasy VII reunion?

• 35:27Kirk Hamilton?

  Right, but that Crysis Core remake is like coming out. Like, and it's like reunion, so they just, I think they just can't. It, I mean, I wouldn't put anything past them because just calling two games reunion is a very JRPG thing to do, but I'd be surprised.

• 35:40Jason Schreier?

  The one you're describing came out like two years ago. Crysis Core reunion.

• 35:44Kirk Hamilton?

  Oh, really?

• 35:44Jason Schreier?

  But yes.

• 35:45Kirk Hamilton?

  Then I'm, I never played it, but then it's recent enough that I don't think they would do that.

• 35:49Jason Schreier?

  Um, Matty, go ahead.

• 35:51Speaker 01

  Okay, number one, a Deadpool video game will get announced. Two, the Guillermo family will get pushed out of controlling Ubisoft. Three, Metroid Prime 2 and 3 will get remasters released on a Switch in 2025. I'm putting the word "uh" here. Four, a full-length film will be screened in Fortnite. Five, a game made on Roblox will become a huge hit slash phenomenon on the scale of Pokemon Go or Among Us. Six, Microsoft slash Xbox will remove the requirement for new Xbox games to be able to also run on the Xbox Series S. Seven, Half-Life 3 will be announced.

• 36:33Speaker 01

  Eight, Silksong will get a release date announcement that will be, quote, "It's out right now," which means I'm also implicitly predicting Silksong comes out in 2025. Nine, there will be two more prominent live service game failures in 2025 in the style of Conquered and Suicide Squad. Ten, Waluigi will figure into a new Mario game. My bonus prediction is Half-Life 4 will be announced, and my game is Super Metroid.

• 37:03Kirk Hamilton?

  I really like your bonus.

• 37:04Speaker 01

  I really liked it when I came up with it. It made me really excited.

• 37:09Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah.

• 37:10Speaker 01

  You never know, you know?

• 37:11Kirk Hamilton?

  No, it's true. You never do.

• 37:13Jason Schreier?

  And mine, number one, Ubisoft will be sold. Number two, an Xbox Studios game will be nominated for Game of the Year at the Game Awards. Number three, a non VR Half-Life game will be announced. Number four, a single player PlayStation game will be announced for PC within three months of PS5. Number five, Ace Attorney 7 will be announced. Number six, Bobby Kotick will get involved with the Trump administration. Number seven, EAC CEO Andrew Wilson will step down. Number eight, Switch 2 will not be on store shelves until at least the holidays. Metroid Prime 4, I guess I should specify, will be, well, hmm, I want to go back on that for one second, just because it could be announced for release in like November or something. Like, we don't know

• 37:55Jason Schreier?

  when it's actually coming out. I just don't want to make this too easy, I suppose.

• 38:02Kirk Hamilton?

  I mean, I get what you're saying. There's like, definitely a good way to phrase it. Switch 2 will be like, will have a, an availability crisis. I think if you just say that or something, like.

• 38:11Speaker 01

  How about for six months? For six months after release? Or like, pick a window after the release date?

• 38:16Kirk Hamilton?

  You could honestly even just say, I think that just, yeah, what Jason's wrote here, what he has written here.

• 38:21Jason Schreier?

  I think we'll know. I think we'll know the spirit of it, like, whether it's true or not.

• 38:26Kirk Hamilton?

  I can picture it. It's just like, oh my God, they're so hard to get. Then he gets it. That's, that's, I think it's kind of that simple.

• 38:32Jason Schreier?

  Also, I actually don't think it's that easy, Matty, because the PS5 came out during COVID, and that's the main reason it had such bad shortages. So I think like, a normal supply chain would.

• 38:46Speaker 01

  But there's the whole terrorist thing, which I know you guys don't understand, but it could make it harder to get. I'm sorry.

• 38:52Kirk Hamilton?

  You're just going to own us over the terrorists?

• 38:54Speaker 01

  Look, I barely understand it either. I just wanted to make a prediction about it.

• 38:58Kirk Hamilton?

  You guys don't understand terrorists.

• 39:00Speaker 01

  I don't know. I think it will impact this, but that's fine. It means Jason will get a point.

• 39:04Jason Schreier?

  I'm sticking with Switch 2. Number eight, Switch 2 will have an availability crisis. Number nine, Metroid Prime 4 will launch on Switch and Switch 2, day one. And number 10, there will be fewer industry layoffs than last year. Bonus, Amazon will pull out of the D game industry. Game chrono trigger. And those are our predictions for 2025. How are we feeling?

• 39:25Kirk Hamilton?

  Pretty good.

• 39:26Speaker 01

  I think you might win, Jason, which I'm fine with, by the way.

• 39:29Kirk Hamilton?

  I don't know.

• 39:30Speaker 01

  I think you've got some good predictions in here.

• 39:32Jason Schreier?

  We get to play Chrono Trigger if I win.

• 39:34Speaker 01

  I know, it's just fine. I think we all picked pretty fun games, so.

• 39:37Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah.

• 39:38Jason Schreier?

  I wanted to pick a game that would make you both excited and not just dreading.

• 39:42Speaker 01

  Not mad at you.

• 39:43Kirk Hamilton?

  That's what I've tried to do every year is like.

• 39:45Speaker 01

  Same.

• 39:45Kirk Hamilton?

  Cause then it just doesn't matter, cause we don't really care who wins. Cause it's like, well, we all win.

• 39:50Speaker 01

  It's fine, yeah.

• 39:51Kirk Hamilton?

  Who cares at this point? Like, we've all won at least one year.

• 39:53Speaker 01

  We've all tortured each other enough times too, that like, we're like trying not to do that again, I think.

• 39:59Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, it's true.

• 39:59Speaker 01

  At least I am. I feel bad that I'm making you pull out your 3DS again, Jason. I forgot that was a factor last time.

• 40:05Jason Schreier?

  No, it was fine last time. The issue you're talking about was, I don't know, it was very, it was not quite.

• 40:12Speaker 01

  I know, it's just too bad there's not a Switch version of Ocarina, but oh, well.

• 40:14Jason Schreier?

  It is too bad, there isn't. Well, you can play it on N64's like virtual console thing on the Switch. If you have Switch Online, you can play it on the N64 app within the Switch. You could emulate it on a Steam Deck or something.

• 40:26Speaker 01

  That's a good point.

• 40:27Kirk Hamilton?

  It's just not the 3DS version.

• 40:28Jason Schreier?

  But it's not quite the 3DS version, yeah, which I think is the best one, so I'm definitely gonna do that.

• 40:32Speaker 01

  I agree, it looks really good.

• 40:33Kirk Hamilton?

  Well, and it's fun to use that. I like using my 3DS, I don't know, man.

• 40:37Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, I'm fine with it.

• 40:38Speaker 01

  There's a lot of good games on there.

• 40:40Kirk Hamilton?

  If I never get it out. I got that Majora's Mask 3DS that like, I then almost never used because the 3DS kinda went away a couple of years later.

• 40:47Speaker 01

  I know, maybe I should have picked the Samus Returns Mercury Steam game.

• 40:52Kirk Hamilton?

  That would have been cool too.

• 40:53Speaker 01

  For next year. But I already picked Super Mushroom, I don't, I'm not changing it.

• 40:58Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, I mean, it could be fun. We could all just like rediscover all these amazing 3DS games while we're, while we're playing it.

• 41:04Speaker 01

  I know.

• 41:05Jason Schreier?

  And then just like we become a 3DS podcast. I will say, on the point of like us playing games that we wanna play or picking games that we want like, everybody to enjoy. I think this entire prediction's about like, part of the, how it was conceived or part of the gimmick of it. Well, at first it was Kirk and I, we were.

• 41:23Speaker 01

  You're buying stakes for each other.

• 41:24Jason Schreier?

  Wagering a steak dinner, but then I think my idea was like, oh, we should have it be making each other play games just so I could get him to play Secret in 2. Then he went. Doing getting me to play Bloodborne instead, which is also a running thing.

• 41:41Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, it's it's changed over the years. I think just as each of us has won multiple times could because winning when you win with a game that is actually kind of like a brutal slog or just long. It's kind of a pirate victory, you know, like you don't feel the whole time you're kind of guilty and like.

• 41:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, I know. It's it's kind of tough to pick the game because you want to pick something fun and then you want there to be good episodes about it.

• 42:04Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, you want it to be something fun to talk about that like listeners will want to play along.

• 42:08Speaker 01

  I think people will like Ocarina of Time and I think the listeners who've never played it will really enjoy it too. So I'm excited.

• 42:12Kirk Hamilton?

  I'm stoked. I'm really excited to replay that game. I've I think I've played the entire thing, but I maybe have never finished it. I've always like I've played the first like half like five times or something, but I'm not sure if I got all the way to the end.

• 42:23Jason Schreier?

  You never finished it.

• 42:25Kirk Hamilton?

  I've seen the ending. I've like read about the ending and I think I've watched it, but I maybe never played it for myself. So it'll be a pretty fresh experience for me.

• 42:32Jason Schreier?

  Uh huh. Uh huh. Yeah, it's it's a cool game. There's a lot of just like hidden stuff and side stuff you can do, including like a special, like a trade chain that gets you the best sword in the game. There's a lot of cool like optional stuff to do too.

• 42:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, I never did that stuff. Maybe I'll min max it this time.

• 42:50Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, and it'll be especially fun playing, I think for all three of us for the first time since Breath of the Wild came out because seeing that kind of evolution is really interesting.

• 42:57Speaker 01

  And people really romanticize Ocarina at this point too, as being like so great. And I wonder if we'll feel that way when we replay it.

• 43:06Kirk Hamilton?

  I think the main thing with Ocarina that will feel that way is the music because the music is incredible. It still is maybe the greatest Zelda music of all time.

• 43:14Speaker 01

  It might also be the greatest role for Zelda in a Zelda game of all time, but I don't know. Maybe I won't feel that way.

• 43:20Jason Schreier?

  Even greater than Echoes of Wisdom where she's actually the hero.

• 43:24Speaker 01

  I mean, yeah, Echoes of Wisdom doesn't have much story to speak of, so role is a strong word to describe that.

• 43:33Kirk Hamilton?

  This will be fun to talk about.

• 43:35Jason Schreier?

  It will be fun to get into. Okay, guys, let's take a break and then we'll come back with the first one more thing of 2025.

• 43:47Speaker 03

  Have you been looking for a new podcast all about nerdy pop culture? Well, I have just the thing for you. Secret Histories of Nerd Mysteries.

• 43:55Speaker 04

  Secret Histories of Nerd Mysteries is a weekly pop culture history podcast hosted by me, host Austin.

• 44:01Speaker 03

  And me, host Brenda. We've already tackled mysteries such as what happened to the puppets from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Is Snoopy Mexican? And why do people hate Barney so much?

• 44:11Speaker 04

  From theme parks to cartoons to 80s, 90s, and 2000s nostalgia, we tackle it all.

• 44:16Speaker 03

  Check us out every Tuesday on MaximumFun.org and wherever you get podcasts.

• 44:23Speaker 05

  One thing we all have in common, we all have a mind.

• 44:26Speaker 06

  It makes me so scared because I'm like, when is the bad thing gonna happen?

• 44:31Speaker 05

  And minds can be kind of unpredictable and eccentric.

• 44:34Speaker 07

  Everybody wants to hear that they're not alone. Everybody wants to hear that someone else has those same thoughts.

• 44:40Speaker 05

  Depressh Mode with Jon Moe is about how interesting minds intersect with the lives and work of the people who have them. Comedians, authors, experts, all sorts of folks trying to make sense of their world. It's not admitting something bad if you say, this is scary. Depressh Mode with Jon Moe, every Monday at MaximumFun.org or wherever you get podcasts.

• 45:07Jason Schreier?

  And we are back. Kirk, Matty, it is time for one more thing. I'm gonna go first. So I want to give you guys a little bit of setup here. For the past couple of weeks, my kids have been out of school and also our babysitter was on vacation. And so my wife and I have been watching them for the whole two weeks, which if I sound a little bit off today, that is why. But one of the things we wanted to do was watch a movie because like my kids haven't really watched any movies. I think maybe my oldest watched Frozen once, but like we haven't had a movie night. So we did a whole big thing of having a movie night. I made popcorn on the stove and we got some treats and they got in their pajamas and blankets. It was very fun. And we decided to watch Encanto.

• 45:52Jason Schreier?

  Have either of you watched Encanto?

• 45:53Speaker 01

  Yes, I have.

• 45:55Jason Schreier?

  Oh, yes.

• 45:55Speaker 01

  Very catchy songs.

• 45:56Jason Schreier?

  Encanto is an incredible movie and the soundtrack is so good that it has become the kind of the soundtrack of our house over the last two weeks. Every single car ride, every single like time we're in the kitchen, we just have that incredible Encanto music playing by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Um, this might be some of his best work yet. Like those songs are all bangers. There are eight of them. I think six in English, two in Spanish, and every single one is just like killer. Um, from the main one to the big famous one was, of course, We Don't Talk About Bruno, but also like the family, uh, Madrigal's incredible Surface Pressure. What Else Can I Do might be, uh, the sneaky best one of the bunch.

• 46:38Jason Schreier?

  Um, they're all so friggin' good. Everything about them, the melodies, the, the lyrics. Um, I would, I would listen to a strong song. It's all about Encanto music.

• 46:48Speaker 01

  Intent.

• 46:49Jason Schreier?

  They're, they're super, what a, what a movie. What an incredible movie. I feel like, uh, uh, adults might not love the mu- the, the movie quite as much, but the music, uh, which is a, a large chunk of the movie itself. Um, it's just so good that I feel like everybody should listen to it. Um, and because my children are children, we have, of course, watched Encanto three times over the last, uh, two weeks.

• 47:12Speaker 01

  Well, at least it's pretty good. I don't know.

• 47:15Jason Schreier?

  Oh, it's great. No, I, I have no problem rewatching.

• 47:18Kirk Hamilton?

  Can I ask you, Jason, have you guys watched Moana yet?

• 47:21Jason Schreier?

  No. Well, so actually, so like two or three nights ago, um, we were telling my oldest, we were like, we want to have a movie night tonight. Let's watch Moana. She was like, no, no, no, no. Um, she was like, I'm not in the mood. I don't want to watch a movie. And then finally my wife was like sitting down with her and my wife comes over to me and she's like, okay. Uh, our oldest, uh, she agreed to watch a movie, uh, but it has to be Encanto.

• 47:47Kirk Hamilton?

  You'll get there. Yeah, don't rush it, I guess. But like, I think Moana will become a similar phenomenon in your house.

• 47:53Jason Schreier?

  Yes, we will watch it.

• 47:56Kirk Hamilton?

  More amazing Lin-Manuel Miranda music, of course.

• 47:58Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, I'm excited. Did he write all of the music of Moana, or just one of the songs?

• 48:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, all of it.

• 48:03Kirk Hamilton?

  That was his, the precursor to Encanto was Moana.

• 48:06Jason Schreier?

  Got it. Yeah, so my kids, for people who don't know, are like five and a half and two and a half at this point. So still a little bit young to be like, really watching movies, especially the youngest one.

• 48:18Speaker 01

  And getting through it all.

• 48:19Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, and getting through it all. And they can be long. Even with Encanto, like my oldest, my daughter wanted to skip through a few of the scenes that are like a little like scary, or like when Abuela and Maribel are fighting, like she doesn't want to see that. So we're not quite at the point where we're like regularly watching all these different movies. I was actually, I wanted to do Home Alone for in the Christmas spirit, but even that feels like I think we're still a few years away.

• 48:44Speaker 01

  Maybe a little too scary, so. But an amazing movie.

• 48:47Jason Schreier?

  Well, I think she would, I think she would really appreciate the gags and the silliness of it all, but the idea of burglars might be a little too scary for her. And also, she's never watched anything live action. So, TMB on that one. But yeah, Moana is like, that's the one we want to do next, but just gotta keep pushing her and getting her to it.

• 49:06Kirk Hamilton?

  It might be my favorite Disney movie, Moana. Like, it might still be my favorite.

• 49:09Speaker 01

  It's pretty incredible.

• 49:10Kirk Hamilton?

  I really love it. It's really good.

• 49:11Jason Schreier?

  That's good to know. Okay, okay, I'm excited. But Encanto, man, man, Encanto is so good.

• 49:17Speaker 01

  I mean, I agree. It's a great movie.

• 49:18Kirk Hamilton?

  We went and saw Wicked with my nieces, who are 11 and 14, in theaters. That movie rocks, just as a side note. I thought it was so, I thought I liked it better than the Broadway musical. But it was pretty long for my 11-year-old niece. She was a little like, like, they were both really into it, just because it's like a great movie. But it was, it's like two hours and maybe two and a half hours long. There was definitely like, it was pushing it toward the end there. So, yeah. And that's, she's 11, you know, so.

• 49:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 49:43Kirk Hamilton?

  It's definitely something you build up to.

• 49:45Speaker 01

  I mean, I'm 38, and that's long for me.

• 49:48Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, I was gonna say. And this is like part one, right?

• 49:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 49:53Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, it's the first act of the musical.

• 49:54Jason Schreier?

  Duology. Maddie, what's your one more thing?

• 49:58Speaker 01

  Mine is also some movies. So I'm, I'm back on my watching movies for the first time that are extremely famous and everyone else has already seen. So.

• 50:07Kirk Hamilton?

  I haven't seen either of these.

• 50:08Speaker 01

  Oh, my God.

• 50:09Jason Schreier?

  I haven't either.

• 50:10Speaker 01

  Whoa, okay.

• 50:11Kirk Hamilton?

  I know. I got a lot of movie blind spots.

• 50:14Speaker 01

  I did a personal Scorsese double feature for myself, which was Taxi Driver and King of Comedy, which is perhaps the most unhinged double feature you could possibly perform on yourself. If you don't know what these movies are about, they're both about Robert De Niro playing a character who loses his mind over the course of the film. I mean, that's probably an easier way to describe Taxi Driver. He gets increasingly radicalized, gets kind of obsessed with the idea of assassinating somebody. It's kind of a horror movie, has a really weird ending that I can't spoil because it's too strange to even describe, but I really recommend it. And I was very freaked out by it. And then I watched King of Comedy, which is kind of

• 50:55Speaker 01

  like the opposite in that it's like Robert De Niro's character lives in a fantasy world where he's the most successful comedian of all time, but he's actually just living in his mom's basement and has created like these kind of paper standees of like the sort of David Letterman type character who's a fictional guy in the movie and like imagines himself constantly performing. And then just the illusion becomes real for him and he starts stalking the guy and it just, I don't know, it's kind of like uncut gems level of stress for both of these movies because you just, things keep getting heightened, but they're really, really good. Like both just incredible movies and they both have amazing endings that had

• 51:36Speaker 01

  me be like, what? Like, I can't believe we got here. So I really recommend them and they're a great double feature of just like Scorsese and De Niro doing the damn thing and being incredible.

• 51:48Kirk Hamilton?

  Isn't the Todd Phillips Joker movie?

• 51:50Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 51:50Kirk Hamilton?

  The first one, kind of like King of Comedy, like a riff on that?

• 51:54Speaker 01

  So that's part of why I watched these. I watched that movie Joker when it came out. And didn't like it very much.

• 52:00Kirk Hamilton?

  That's right. I think you talked about it on the show. I haven't seen it.

• 52:03Speaker 01

  Yeah. And I meant to watch these two because I know that people like kept comparing Joker to these. And then I kind of saw people talking about Joker 2 recently. And I was like, you know, I never got around to watching Taxi Driver and King of Comedy. Are those streaming anywhere? And they both are. So I just went ahead and watched them because I kind of had Joker on the brain already. And it was a good decision. And I think they're both better than the movie Joker in a lot of ways. So, yeah.

• 52:27Kirk Hamilton?

  Not a controversial take, I don't think.

• 52:29Speaker 01

  Nope. And pretty cut and dry, actually.

• 52:32Kirk Hamilton?

  Nice.

• 52:33Speaker 01

  They're both great.

• 52:34Jason Schreier?

  Kirk, your one more thing.

• 52:36Kirk Hamilton?

  My one more thing is something that Emily and I did over the holidays when her family was visiting, her parents were visiting us. And we took them down to the recording studio and we all got together and I set up microphones. And we recorded an interview with them. We recorded an interview, kind of like a podcast. And it was really amazing. And I sort of just wanted to mention it here on the show. Because I just feel like, I don't know, maybe someone out there listening, this might spark something for them. Or it might make them think, you know, I've actually thought about doing that before. Maybe I should really do it. And that is my advice. If you've ever thought about doing this, you should do it. And if you've never thought about doing this, you should think about it.

• 53:16Kirk Hamilton?

  There is a website, it's like a nonprofit maybe called StoryCorps, like C-O-R-P-S. And it's an initiative to just record a ton of normal people just telling their stories. And they have a website, we'll link it in show notes. It's, we kind of used it to come up with some of the questions. Because Emily kind of ran the interview and, you know, she like pulled up questions to ask her parents to start with. And then I kind of was like second fiddle and running the board and also would just chime in with follow up questions. And that was a really good way to do it. StoryCorps, they give you a lot of resources. I think they have like an app you can use if you want to just use your phone to record an interview. Like there's, you could just go to the website and look at what they've got. You don't have to use them, but they're kind of useful. But-

• 53:57Kirk Hamilton?

  Mainly, I just wanted to throw the idea out there for anyone because it was really surprising to me how different the conversation was than all of the times that we've talked to Emily's parents. Emily's parents are really cool. We get along. You know, they're neat people. They've lived interesting lives and I talk to them a lot about their lives. But formalizing it into an interview setting really changed things. And I kind of like, I almost want to make it a rule that anybody who comes and stays here has to be interviewed, has to come down to the studio and like, sit for an interview. Just because it was so cool, like to just start out asking someone about where they grew up and their town. And then if it's someone that you know, or especially like an in-law, or maybe a relative that you see,

• 54:39Kirk Hamilton?

  like an aunt or an uncle that you see, but like, not all the time. You could ask them like, questions that you just would normally never have a chance to ask. Like, oh, how much older are your older brothers? Like, which is something that you might just not know. You might not even know that about your parents, you know? And it really, it was so cool. And then also, we now have the recording of that conversation, which is just something that I, at least, since I lost my dad last year, have really regretted that I don't have like, longer recordings of him to listen to. Like, we didn't really record ourselves a lot. I thought about doing this a lot. Like, I would come down and kind of suggest it to them when we'd visit. I'd be like, oh, you know, I just want to chat with you guys and like, maybe we can record it like a podcast. And it wasn't like, oh, because when you're gone, I'll be able to listen to you. I kind of, it was the same idea.

• 55:23Kirk Hamilton?

  Like, I just want to have this meaningful conversation, have it kind of be a different context, you know? Have it be like an interview. But it just, it never worked out because it's sort of weird to put it to people at first. Like, you'll feel kind of awkward. Like, even with Emily's parents, I had to kind of push. I was like, hey, let's, let's make it happen. Like, let's do it. I set up all the microphones. Come on down. Like, I had to make it really easy. Because it's just easier to just sit around on a visit and spend the day on your, on your, reading your book or on your phone or whatever. But like, if you kind of push for it, the minute you get going, it's really, really easy. And it, I really regret that I never did that, especially with my dad. And it's really awesome that we did it with Emily's parents. And now, like, every time they come, I think we'll just do it again and pick a new topic and maybe prepare, you know, tell them something they can prepare in advance if they want to.

• 56:07Kirk Hamilton?

  You know, remember people's names or look up stuff about their town. And yeah, I think everyone who visits, we're gonna do it as well. So basically like interview everyone you know all the time is my advice. Don't like, not to turn it into content, not to like, start a podcast or whatever, or monetize it. Not, just, you'll just keep it yourself. You may never listen to it, but the, just the process of doing it is a really amazing experience and totally worth doing. Like it's, you know, better than whatever sitting around that afternoon would have been, you know? It takes a couple hours and it's totally worth it. So that is my advice to everybody here in the new year. Something to think about for this coming year is interviewing your friends, family and loved ones.

• 56:46Jason Schreier?

  I did it to my 92 year old grandma a few years ago.

• 56:51Kirk Hamilton?

  Oh, that's so awesome.

• 56:52Speaker 01

  That's so cool.

• 56:52Jason Schreier?

  But my thinking was actually, it's interesting to hear that you're doing it. Cause my thinking was like to pass this along to children and you obviously do not have children to pass it along to. But

• 57:01Kirk Hamilton?

  No, but I mean,

• 57:02Jason Schreier?

  It sounds like you're getting a lot more out, like the recording might never be listened to, but you're just getting a lot out of the process itself.

• 57:08Kirk Hamilton?

  I think so, yeah. And I mean, we'll definitely hand this on down to our nieces. Like there will be, you know, we'll, there will be a sort of a, we'll, we'll keep it around. We'll send it on to people.

• 57:17Jason Schreier?

  Well, I was gonna say, or you could hand it down to your golden retriever and see if she'll eat the tape.

• 57:25Kirk Hamilton?

  That's true.

• 57:28Jason Schreier?

  Yeah, it's a cool idea.

• 57:28Speaker 01

  That's a great idea. I love that. It sounds really cool. So StoryCorps, I guess, is called.

• 57:34Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, StoryCorps is the, that's the, the website.

• 57:37Speaker 01

  All right.

• 57:38Jason Schreier?

  Um, all right. Well, that is it for this week's episode. We will be back next week for our second episode of 2025, which should we just do that every single?

• 57:48Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 57:49Jason Schreier?

  Every single week. At some point it'll get old. At some point it'll be like,

• 57:51Kirk Hamilton?

  Welcome back to our 25th episode.

• 57:54Jason Schreier?

  It's so funny, cause like 2025 is, is now, but hearing 2026 still seems like forever away, right? Like that still seems like so long from now, but that's just a year from now. It's crazy.

• 58:05Speaker 01

  I know. It's really weird.

• 58:07Jason Schreier?

  Anyway, I'll see you both next week.

• 58:10Kirk Hamilton?

  Yeah, see you both next week.

• 58:12Speaker 01

  Bye.

• 58:15Kirk Hamilton?

  Triple Click is produced by Jason Schreier, Maddy Myers, and me, Kirk Hamilton. I edit and mix the show and also wrote our theme music. Our show art is by Tom DJ. Some of the games and products we talked about on this episode may have been sent to us for free for review consideration. You can find a link to our ethics policy in the show notes. Triple Click is a proud member of the Maximum Fun Podcast Network, and if you like our show, we hope you'll consider supporting us by becoming a member at maximumfun.org/join. Find us on Twitter at TripleClickPod, send email to [email protected], and find a link to our Discord in the show notes. Thanks for listening. See you next time.

• 59:13Jason Schreier?

  Maximum Fun. A worker-owned network. Of artist-owned shows. Supported. Directly. By you.