A-Xii
Welcome A-Xii , where generational gaps collide and pop culture shines! Hosted by a Gen Xer and a Millennial, we dive into all things movies, sports, TV shows, and video games. Expect heated debates, hilarious nostalgia, and fresh takes as we bridge the divide between VHS tapes and TikTok trends. Whether you're reliving the classics or discovering the latest hits, this podcast is your go-to for witty banter and deep dives into everything that keeps us entertained. Tune in and join the conversation—because no matter your generation, we’ve got something for you! 🎙️✨
A-Xii
Episode #001: Never Go In Against a Sicilian When Death Is On The Line
Ever tried juggling the excitement of a new video game release with the nail-biting drama of sports playoffs? On A-Xii, we’ve got you covered with gaming nostalgia, sports strategy, and film fun that’ll keep you hooked from start to finish.
This week, we tolerate Austyn Frechette and his Buffalo Bills Mafia energy as he gives us an insider’s scoop on the Kansas City vs. Buffalo showdown. Want to know the secrets behind Josh Allen’s next-level gameplay? Curious if Keon Coleman’s about to steal the spotlight? We’ve got all the hot takes, plus some fantasy league insights on Jaden Daniels to get your lineup locked and loaded.
Then, buckle up for a trip down memory lane as we revisit the magic of Final Fantasy VII and its evolution into the highly anticipated Rebirth. We’ll nerd out over the series’ journey from turn-based battles to action RPG brilliance, all while keeping its epic storytelling intact. Oh, and we’re brainstorming podcast episode titles with ChatGPT—because why not?—and spicing things up with a new segment where we read hilariously brutal (and glowing) reviews of games and movies.
And it wouldn’t be A-Xii without a dose of cinematic nostalgia. From the timeless charm of The Princess Bride to the “so bad it’s good” cult gem Troll 2, we’ll share how our personal connections—and sometimes skeptical introductions—shape our love for these movies. Whether you’re here to laugh, geek out, or debate our questionable opinions, you’re in for a ride through games, sports, and films that’ll leave you smiling.
Ready to join the fun? Hit play and let’s dive in!
this is the um. What's the name of the podcast? Bay, the bowl for two? Nope, what are we doing? We're gonna type in to chat gpt oh, all the shit we're gonna talk about and have the universe give us a name for this podcast. Perfect, so give me some instructions out, because we can't both be not good radio, but um, is that radio? What are we on? This is the podcast. We're on apps, yeah, but what's? What's the universe we're in? How's this getting to people's ears? How's this work? What do you? I've done?
Speaker 2:a lot of these I don't even know you're live on the radio.
Speaker 1:Magic you're live on what. What are we doing? We will be pre-recorded on apple spotify and then our voices are shrunk into tiny little what?
Speaker 3:into magic, I don't know, and then the magic goes out there, and then it goes on so what should me the prompt for ChatGPT?
Speaker 1:So let's say, create a name Yep. What else For a podcast? Yep create podcast name for that talks about sports Sports movie, movies, tv games, tvs, movies, tv.
Speaker 3:Games TVs, tv shows.
Speaker 1:Tv shows Video games Video games General hobbies In the future, in the future, in the future. And just see what. And is it creative enough or does it need more prompts? We're going to find out right now. It'll be pretty creative. It'll be pretty creative. It'll be pretty creative. Yeah, oh shit, future Playbook Podcast. That's pretty fun. It's not bad. No, I'm going to tell this fucker to try again.
Speaker 3:Yeah, A little sports focused.
Speaker 1:It's pretty good, though, actually Try again. And then let's see, try again. And here we go. And so now, pop culture rewind. Stop being an idiot. Future can't fully rewind. The crossover Chronicles oh, that's really good. Crossover is good, I like that crossover. The crossover Chronicles oh, that's really good. Crossover is good, I like that. Crossover. The crossover um chronicles podcast. The crossover podcast working title yeah, here's what we're going to do on this podcast.
Speaker 1:Um, I think that the general thought is to sort of like connect on a weekly basis about, uh, new movies, new video game releases, current sports. We know a lot of people you know, I guess in a weird way through the vibes world, we know, like you know, ex NFL players that have foundations in. So there's that weird connection. We can go that way with it. But more practically, things you can, we can handle We'll just talk about whatever's happening that week in sports you know the best of our abilities and or have people on, like we'll have in a little bit where we talk about this week in clear. It's going to be the ac nsc championship games in the nfl yep. We're going to talk about severance season two. We're going to talk about, um, uh, what video game we're going to talk about final fantasy 7, rebirth, perfect final fantasy 7, and then I think that's and and we just saw the Princess Bride yesterday, the retro Throwback in a movie, and we'll just Kind of have fun with it rolling right through.
Speaker 1:And I think, before he gets on the road, I think we're going to start today, roll the Spin the wheel a little bit and we're Going to start with sports, with the AFC NFC Championship games, and let's see if he picks up. I want to make sure we get him here. We're going to call a actual member of the bills mafia oh, that's still on the loudest and proudest member. I'm gonna pause that and I'm gonna go over here and call our buddy all the way back east. Is he in watertown right now or where's he going? Yeah, watertown, hello, bills Mafia. Is this Bills Mafia HQ?
Speaker 2:It could be. How are you feeling?
Speaker 3:It could be.
Speaker 2:Austin.
Speaker 1:Frechette, let's do a little background on Austin Frechette. Austin Frechette, are you in Watertown right now or are you traveling?
Speaker 2:I'm currently in Watertown.
Speaker 1:What's the weather in Watertown today?
Speaker 2:It's actually not bad. It's a high of 30 today. Get the fuck out of here. How much snow right now. We got lake effect coming in about like three hours.
Speaker 3:You're not leaving Mark Frechette later? I am not. No, Is that what the plan is?
Speaker 1:today Is it a Frechette family reunion with a bunch of puckered assholes?
Speaker 2:today, it is yeah, more than a little trauma bonding together I'm gonna get right into it.
Speaker 1:Here's what we're gonna do because we're getting you on the first part, because we knew you were traveling a little bit, um, but I think, first of all, you know I'm, I think I'll give you my kind of keys to this game and I think the line closed. Is it kansas city minus two austin? Is that kind of where it closed out today?
Speaker 2:yeah, I think it finished at that.
Speaker 1:I think it got back down to one and a half, but I'm pretty sure two is like the opened at one and a half, went up to, I think, two and a half, or never higher than two no two.
Speaker 1:And so here's my. I'm gonna go through my kind of like little coach up and shit that I kind of thought for this game and I I've got three for Kansas City to win, right, and I've got three for the Bills to win, and see where you disagree, agree, and then we'll get your full kind of like concept on it. Here's my three things We'll go with. Do you want Buffalo to win first or Kansas City to win first? Which keys do you want first? Rochette, you can give it to the Chiefs. All right For For the Chiefs to win.
Speaker 1:Here's my thought Don't blitz Josh Allen, I think. For me, one of the thoughts is Kansas City needs to stay all the way back and I think if there's a bullshit percentage on it somewhere below 20% of the game, I think they need to stay away from blitzing Josh Allen. Two for Kansas City no matter what happens, they can never abandon the run, Because I think it showed last week in that game by attrition by the third and fourth quarter. Physically, I think you can kind of get to the bills if you stay with it. And Kansas City wants to keep that clock running. Keep the score down, get Patrick Mahomes with the ball at the end. So I think Andy Reid's not the kind of guy that's going to give up on it.
Speaker 1:But my key is don't abandon the run, and then my little X factor is literally the X factor is worthy. Abandon the run and then my little x factor is literally the x factor is worthy. I think they need to find a million different ways to get xavier worthy the ball and that's the. Let's just stay right there. That's like my three for kansas city. Do you have like? What are you thinking about kansas city? What are you worried about?
Speaker 2:um, I'm see I'm not worried about. I'm worried about how the bills adapt to kansas city. Like, if we come out on our basic nickel, then they'll break, they're going to kill us. Kelsey's going to have 10 catches for 100 yards.
Speaker 2:I think if Buffalo, kind of like we did last week with Baltimore, you just adapt it we actually ran three linebackers, we didn't run just with basic nickel I think we have to just switch it up on them.
Speaker 2:I think if we come out there just a basic defense, they're just gonna do what they always do to us and dip and dunk um, I think I like you're worthy um x factor, but I kind of I really think the bills are gonna shut down kelsey and worthy, I think brown's kind of like their x factor. I think brown has like a big game um, but it's just it's tough for the Bills right now because Raps out, so we're going to have a rookie safety in there. I think the Chiefs are really going to try to attack us downfield, to be honest, because I think we're really going to not play your typical bend over D. I think you're going to see the Bills blitz a lot, which I mean Mahomes is the best blitz pickup, which I mean Mahomes, is the best at blitz pickup. So I really think if the Chiefs beat us it's going to be deep.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I mean like and staying on the perspective of like again we're doing. It's always hard to say when you're a team like, how do you beat your team? And that was really good what you said. But on the other side of it is Kansas City, so you know, flipping it to the other side, I Kansas City, so, um, you know flipping it to the other side. I guess you kind of handled a little bit so like from a from a quarterback position, offensive position. What don't you want to see from Kansas City today? Or where do you see, where do you see vulnerabilities? Or you know what would Kansas City do to beat you?
Speaker 2:uh, can I say the officials? No, I'm just kidding. There, it is there that's a.
Speaker 1:That's a. You're gonna get a fine Austinin.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I I could see it. Um, we, we just we can't have my home just do what he wants. Like, yeah, I mean you can't, it's hard because he's done it all year. You can't have my home, so it's five yard outs and ends, and I mean that's literally how we beat them. We want my homes to try to throw the ball deep. You know we want we have to like really hope he just makes that mistake. Yeah, you know we have to capitalize. Um, I think, oh man, it's so tough because I just see like 10 different things happening. Um, I think we really I we really have to take away mahomes dip and duncan.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's how we beat the cheese I'll tell you one thing, and this goes back, and I and bailey didn't play in it, taylor played in it. But there was in one of the greatest football games in the history of organized football. It was probably about 20 years ago and it was a sixth grade championship in the YMCA indoor arena between St Patrick's and St Anthony's.
Speaker 2:Flag football.
Speaker 1:Flag football. We had Tara Givera and Taylor Upton at defensive ends and they had beaten the shit out of us all year and for two years and we couldn't beat them with. I think it was Tony Doldo. Is that Taylor's class, tony Doldo? Yeah, at a running back Unstoppable, nunzi me.
Speaker 3:I think he was a little older.
Speaker 1:Might've been, but it was one of those fucking doldos that ran like crazy. And so I had this idea and Javera idea instead of doing our regular defense, taylor and tara, who are defensive ends very athletic, they just stood there, they didn't do anything. They stood there, they stepped one yard across the ball and waited and kept everything inside of them and I think when the niners have played the chiefs in the super bowl, when they were disciplined, other than those broken plays, it's not as aggressive as you think I do like your idea of blitzing, but those ends and backers on the outside need to keep those shoulders free and keep everything inside of them.
Speaker 2:No, totally, and I don't necessarily want to blitz. I want to show blitz all day though.
Speaker 1:I got you yeah, mask it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I want us to be within five yard cover, Because I think that's how you beat. I'm sure they're going to for sure, but the odds of it you know. I think we had the best defense all year on the deep ball. I mean, I just think you have to force the Chiefs to win a one-on-one Do? I think they can? Yes, I just think you've got to play that game. They can't control the ball the whole time. We have to control it the whole entire time.
Speaker 1:I totally agree. You want my three bills to win Keys.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Here's the ones I wrote down. Let cook cook. Bills need to get over. Not only that, I think the bills need to get over 150 yards rushing. I think they've had like 180 yards per game in the last two games. Um, and it's a. It's a weird thing, cause the bills don't mind getting in a shootout. They can still rush for 150 yards and score 40. They're not like kansas city. Kansas city wants to get to 150, but they want to score 19. The bills, the bills, can do both and I think that's the same. The same thing goes for the bills. As went for kansas city was just never. The bills can never abandon that commitment to the run, because they still, they'll still speed the game up with their run game.
Speaker 1:The, the chiefs, want to slow it down. And then this is a weird little tiny one 11 to 15 plays. I think von miller needs to be like 28 year old von miller today. I think he needs to 100. I think he really needs to be like a guy that, um, you know, not not for 30 plays, not for 25, but on, you're going to get him into a third and 12, you're going to get him into a third and 14, and he just needs to kind of, and I think he's had success against this tackle before. I can't remember, but I feel like, is that true?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah and uh, you need. I mean you really. Von just needs to make that one play. He made it last week and look what happened. He needs, we need that one play. It's that one Von Miller play.
Speaker 1:And then my last one's this, and this is the cheesiest old coach Upton, but it's the one that we always talk about in those big games is it's not so much penalties and holding on the ball are obvious, but for Josh Allen today, it's his instincts and his small things on first and second down. If it's a game of second and sixes today I remember I talked about this when I was coaching you guys forever If it's no negative plays on boring shit first and second down, if they're boring and productive on the road against Kansas City, I think that's a big key. That's my last key for the Bills.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, no, I mean it's tough because I want Josh Allen to go out there and just be a superhero, but the way we beat them it's just like we've done all year, you know, just run the ball, control the time, control no turnovers. Wins this game for the Bills. I mean, like I just I know you said that like Casey can't blitz and stuff, but I mean he can't help him. I don't know if you watched Casey all year, but that coordinator cannot help but just send the house Interesting. They're going to blitz and I just hope Josh Allen capitalizes on it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've been saying it all year, every week I'm kind of waiting for Keon Coleman's breakout game. I'm kind of just like I think you get it today I can really see him getting maybe like 80 yards today, maybe a touchdown, the thing, the bill, I don't know. There's so many things we need to do, but our main thing is, just like you said, we need to run the ball. Allen doesn't have to go out there and win this game, you know like he just there might be a time where he has to, but like the majority of it, we really just have to control the possession, run the ball.
Speaker 1:We have to score almost every drive in my opinion and it's not so from a Bills fan standpoint it's probably not as stressful as it's been. How many years has he been in the league now? Austin Josh Allen, Seven, Seven years.
Speaker 1:Seven. My point is this and he showed some things through the regular season, even these playoffs, where he's still fighting back his old Josh Allen bullshit. But it's not that he's doing it, he's not making those mistakes. And then I think that's that sort of fake it till you make it year kind of thing. And he is not making. He wanted to do it on the goal line last week. He wanted to pitch that shit, right, yeah is not making. He wanted to do it on the goal line last week. He wanted to pitch that shit, right yeah. And he, he wanted to just chuck it. And I think he was just going to chuck it towards the 10 yard line. There was no one there, but his instinct was getting it out of here and something amazing will happen. But I, I think that's kind of it. And then, um, what's your final? If they get again, you're gonna have the bills winning, but where do you see the score Range?
Speaker 2:being. I see 24, 21, yeah.
Speaker 1:That's right where I have. You almost fucked my parlay with you, but it's like I got to Make sure that we're. That gives me. That covers Me by half point. I think that 24 21 yeah, that Gets me there 45.
Speaker 2:I just see like I Know everyone's kind of waiting for the Four years ago shootout. But I mean you're just going to see controlled football today. You're going to see.
Speaker 1:I totally agree.
Speaker 2:To make the mistake. Yep, I mean, we've got to win the trenches.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's no doubt about it.
Speaker 2:We just got to. I just hope, like you said, I just hope Allen doesn't have to go out there and play superhero ball, because that's what we use. Granted, it's wicked entertaining.
Speaker 1:There's no doubt Wicked entertaining, but you're going to be on the back end of a 45-42 heartbreak again.
Speaker 2:Totally, that's exactly it. I think this game really just comes down to who has the last possession.
Speaker 1:Any interesting bet angles that you're taking or anything that you kind of liked.
Speaker 2:I do I hate betting dope props because they've had the mentality of everyone eats all year. Everyone's going to get their three, four touches a game. No one cares. Like I said, I like Coleman today. I think his yards were like 40 or it was like 37 and a half.
Speaker 1:I think that's right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like Coleman. I think he has that one breakout game we've been waiting for.
Speaker 1:You know, Gabe.
Speaker 2:Davis this year had the breakout game against the Chiefs and I think that's Coleman's breakout game. Is this opportunity right now. That's my favorite and I also like Marquise Brown to have more than 30 yards.
Speaker 1:What about Coach Upton's parlay?
Speaker 2:I like it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, talk me off of this. Talk me off of this. Bills plus seven and a half.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I think you can go either way with it. I think you can go Chiefs plus seven and a half. I think you can go Bills plus seven and a half.
Speaker 1:Fuck you, I think you can go Chiefs plus seven and a half, I think you can go Bills plus seven and a half, fuck you.
Speaker 3:I mean seriously.
Speaker 1:It's just going to be that last position.
Speaker 2:It's not going to be a blowout. It's not going to.
Speaker 1:No, I'm not going to stop until you like it. I like my side, I don't want the other side.
Speaker 2:Start from the beginning. Over Austin Was that the line. I think it was at 45.
Speaker 1:No, it's like 47 and a half, I remember I took five points off.
Speaker 2:My parlay is over 42 and a half.
Speaker 1:You did Washington? I believe. No, it was the oh. No, you're right, that's fine. The alternate, yeah, the alternate, no, that's the one I wanted, because I think that's the shootout. I'm sorry, I had it backwards. The Washington Phillies over 42 and a half, that's the way you're right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I love that. I think you're just. I mean, no one stopped Jaden Daniels. They're going to score like this.
Speaker 1:I got to pull it up because I don't have my app right now. But who's got himaden Daniels? I forget.
Speaker 2:I think you know who has it.
Speaker 1:No, sleeper League, because it seems like if you have him, not only could he probably lead you to a championship this year, but I feel like in our league I'll pull it up right now. I'm pulling on Sleeper right now, but I think if you drafted him, that you probably had a chance to win it this year and have a generational talent. Oh, I'm in too many leagues. It is me.
Speaker 2:I do own him. I can't wait for him to be RG3. I can't wait.
Speaker 1:That game ended and Austin texted me the minute that the game ended. He's like congrats on the championship slash when you're ever going to win. Yeah. Hold on, I'm trying to pull something up here. I'm trying to see if I can get through this bullshit. Hold on See if this makes any play with you. What's this, Austin Hold?
Speaker 2:on. Yeah, you feeling it Austin.
Speaker 1:Oh, dude, I'm pacing.
Speaker 2:I think I got a thousand steps in about an hour. We're going to let it go. What'd you say?
Speaker 1:We're going to let it go. What'd you say? We're going to let this whole thing play. You can't hear this. We're playing Bill's Mafia right now. Hold on, you're going to love this when you hear it back. Just shut up for a second.
Speaker 2:It's Bill's.
Speaker 1:Mafia anthem, Austin. We're playing right now, Right over the top of your head.
Speaker 2:I might just go through and jump through a table right now. Yeah, I'm ready for it. There's about to be 20 perchettes crammed in a 20 by 20 room.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was just telling him about Well, tell your family we love them and good luck today, and then we'll text you all day and see how it's going. But this was awesome, this was a good game preview. And then, quickly before you go, what's a quick little Austin? We'll talk about a little bit after you get off.
Speaker 2:But quick breakdown on the NFC. I mean, it's a great NFC game. Every part of me wants to take Washington, but you know, I think Philly's too good. I think you're going to see how much better Philly is today in my opinion. I think the glory run from Washington's done. I think their coach I don't think he's an idiot because they've converted every fourth down but I think it's going to be different this week.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because there's a physical nature to this game.
Speaker 2:It's really bigger, faster, stronger.
Speaker 1:And they always say you don't want to play a division opponent three times. When you split the way they did, I think you just give that classic home field advantage to the home team Can. Washington stay within six on that spread, maybe a backdoor cover?
Speaker 2:I don't, I really don't think so. I think they're going to be down pretty early. I think they might be kind of close within a score game and then I think you're just not going to be able to stop Philly. I think Saquon's going to have a field day.
Speaker 1:I do. Here's the way I see it. I think Washington covered and I'll tell you the very specific way they cover. It's an irrelevant cover. I think they're down by like 13 with 40 seconds left, no timeouts, and I do think they get that seven points to go down by six with 17 seconds left missed the on-site kick. I think it's that kind of like 13 to 20 point possible game, the whole game. But I think with timeouts gone, with three or four minutes left, I can see Washington getting the ball punching one in making it 13, and getting the jank touchdown with four seconds left.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'm going to say something that makes absolutely no sense. That's a shocker. Wait, wait, wait.
Speaker 1:Shut up. That's different than yesterday. How?
Speaker 2:No, I'm just.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:If it's a close game, I think Washington will win it. But if it's not, if it's a two-score game, I think Philly's going to win by three touchdowns. But if it comes to that one possession game, like I could still see Washington like winning it. You know, like it's like I just don't think Hurts is like the guy I think he's great for. Like he's not a pressure you don't think he yeah he can't go win you a game, you know.
Speaker 1:I've got Washington. I've got Washington winning the game. And then here's my, my thought and the reason I'll tell you why is I think it's simply like the eye test of. They very much remind me of the Rams from a couple three years ago, when everything they they look faster, they look like they're connected. On defense they sort of look unstoppable. I think you know, not only because of my bet, but I think Eckler has a big game today on check downs.
Speaker 2:I think that's the key is to. I think I think McLaurin, they're going to try to take them away. And another thing though, like just I mean not to get conspiracies involved the Bills the only team they haven't lost to in that division in the Super Bowl is Philly. Huh, I can so see a Philly-Bills Super Bowl, and I was just getting fucking whacked. Yeah, there's no. Yeah, only the Bills would lose to the whole division, you know in the Super Bowl, yeah it seems like a story.
Speaker 1:That's the other one where sometimes stories end up. That's why, outside of him getting the ball ball, there's that little tiny um xavier worthy thing about. Wasn't that, buffalo's pick?
Speaker 2:yeah, no, and mahomes worthy, I mean, yeah, there's too, there's too many stories there.
Speaker 1:All right, kid, we're gonna let you go and finish this thing up, and then I'll send you a copy this when we're done but hey, you know what oj died, so we might have a chance there you go now we can't even publish this fucking podcast.
Speaker 2:See Austin, see you All right.
Speaker 1:See you, that was awesome. Oh yeah, he's great, yeah, that was. That was a lot of fun. All right, let's see if we can get right into this one. Perfect, I see if we're going to um. So, on the, on the trying to get into our links here on my phone.
Speaker 3:What are we starting with first?
Speaker 1:I think we're going to start with. You can start talking about why I kind of get my stuff together here. I want to start with the video game and I want to start with Final Fantasy VII.
Speaker 3:Yeah, final Fantasy VII. I think Rebirth is the specific one we're going to focus on. That's a game I've got no history with, but that game has. I'll let this trailer play real quick Okay. It's upon us and you can talk through it a little bit.
Speaker 2:We'll kind of play with it at the right time Merge.
Speaker 1:Oh Good, aerith Pray. What happened to this?
Speaker 2:place.
Speaker 1:The world's ending.
Speaker 2:That's what everyone's saying. Aerith Aerith Cloud.
Speaker 1:No, hey, there's a kitty cat in it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Kate said it looks amazing. It is.
Speaker 1:It's going to be interesting. There's a review that I'm going to read about this. Tell me about the game a little bit.
Speaker 3:The game's got a lot of history. It was originally an old school I believe, playstation 2 game. It came out probably in the 90s so before I was ever touching games like that, but really way ahead of its time, something I'd always heard of. And then obviously, in the past few years they've been remaking it. They've taken like an old 20, 30 hour game that was super, what they call turn-based, and they've, from the ground up, made it just a modern age action RPG.
Speaker 3:The story is again way ahead of its time. It's all about these cast of characters and their relationships in a world where the kind of late stage capitalism has taken over all of like the world's natural resources, and in a world where the kind of late-stage capitalism has taken over all of the world's natural resources and the planet's dying and it's just these group of characters that are rebelling against that. It gets so much deeper than that and, like I was saying before we got on the podcast, it's so different from the kind of style I like. This being a Japanese game, it goes from crazy cinematic, dramatic moments to all of a sudden you're on the back of a chicken racing each other across this weird countryside.
Speaker 3:Yeah so it hits so many different marks all at once. But yeah, it's something I wasn't familiar with until they started these remakes, familiar with until they started these remakes, but they, they really are just kind of genius tie together of what games were 30 years ago and what they are now and will continue to be, and it hits all sorts of different high marks. Yeah, I think that what they're experts at is.
Speaker 1:They're experts at keeping sort of like advancing the narrative. They kind of uh keep the, the connectivity of the dna of the game, over that and I think it's 97. It's saying um uh was, was you know the first release of it? Okay, 97. And then says follow the game, follows uh cloud strife. The former is it shinra? Shinra shinra, soldier who joins an eco terrorist group to stop a corporation from draining the planet's life force.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so that it's actually got a lot of real world implications right again, like ahead of its time a little bit in 97, that that conversation became more relevant just a handful of years after in the real world. Um, but yeah, that obviously they're, they're kind of on it of what the future can look like if these corporations keep getting their way and start, keep naming everything x, what was that?
Speaker 1:and keep naming everything x, yeah, yeah exactly.
Speaker 1:Well, it's not. It's funny because you talk about a game like this and you talk about and again, I'm looking at, it's fantastical and we will. We'll go on this one just kind of advance the narrative. I think we'll do a fun thing on this podcast which I already forget the name of it that chat gpt gave us. It's um, you know we could do is um, we could, um, uh, we could rename the podcast every single episode with chat gpt oh, that's pretty fun too, and so we'll come up with the name of it and then it's, it's, uh, it's that's great for branding and every every no, we'll have a brand and then we'll just rename the podcast every time.
Speaker 1:The brand will be the fact that we do that. Yeah, so the name of it, the name of the podcast, is the unnamed podcast. That's named every time.
Speaker 3:I think it fits. I think the plan for this is to have a pretty evolving structure. Each week have someone else in and have a different focus. Obviously, you could tell all.
Speaker 1:And get for shed on talking nonsense, you've got unlimited friends with bullshit, absolutely. I mean, that's the beauty of that. And each of those friends has five friends, and so I think, if we really are successful, we'll have 17 people listening to this. Yeah, that's the goal.
Speaker 1:All right. So here's one fun thing we're going to do is we're going to do a one-star and a five-star review of all of these things the video games, the movies, the TV shows and even Austin. Eventually, once we get a fan base, we'll do the one in five. We'll have them on a regular basis. I can give a one-star review and we'll get some of our animators and creators to create a digital version so that he has a presence in the universe, and then we'll just have people shit on him every week.
Speaker 3:I'd be into that what he deserves? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:All right, so here's the five-star. Absolutely incredible, I'm so. Final Fantasy VII it was my first Final Fantasy experience ever. I've always heard from family and friends about how great the series was and I always thought it was just some super anime fantasy game that looked depressing to me and never expected to be what it was. When I finally played the Final Fantasy VII, I am a fan forever. Just kind of an adorable five-star review.
Speaker 3:It's great. It's a review I could have written myself. I had that same experience. Never touched any of those. That entire franchise, um, because I just didn't think I would be interested in it. Um, then I had a couple of friends that had been fans of it for 20 plus years. That convinced me to play it and, same thing, fell in love with the group of characters and I'm just dying to see how they finish off this with their. So the remake which they're we're talking about yeah the old game.
Speaker 3:They've broken up into three parts and they've got two out of three parts released so far, so the finale is still coming and I think the one star reviews on the opposite in the spectrum.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's somebody that. This is a person that is like hey, I just found you and I love you. This one sounds like they've played quite a few games, sure, and they have a very distinct idea about this game. That is is not the same euphoric. Let me see if I can get back here. Very different feel on this one. The review starts out clearly starts out fuck no, between this Game of War, ragnarok, and Horizon, forbidden West, god of War, sorry, what did I say? I'm sorry, god of War, my fault. It is clear that the developers of the RPG genre have completely run out of ideas. If you play one of these games, you have essentially played all of them. The whole genre is so watered down by a template that was created 20 years ago. Assassin's creed was the first game I played like this. The gaming world is badly in need of innovation. The only newer unique feature here are the mini games.
Speaker 3:There's many games in this yeah, a ton, I'd say maybe. Well, quarter of all the content is.
Speaker 1:I don't want to get your review on those mini games.
Speaker 3:There's many games in this. Yeah, a ton, I'd say maybe.
Speaker 1:Well, quarter of all the content is I don't want to get your review on those mini games because I'm going to give you his right now, please do which are mind-numbingly fucking boring at best and, at worst, are so frustrating it borders on trauma period so, yeah, I can.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of truth to that. That review as well. I, how great is that? It's hilarious, I'd say. Like if you turn the game on and rolled credits and in between, did every piece of content available, it'd take you probably towards a couple hundred hours.
Speaker 3:So I had a breaking point while playing it myself where I was loving all of this side content, where it's mini games and it's exploring the map and discovering all sorts of hidden things. But then about halfway through I got to a point where I got to the fifth, what they call open area, and I just couldn't do it anymore. It was a lot of repetition, yeah, and so, yeah, I, I think there's truth to that while at the same time, every single piece of content or mini game it's the highest quality. There's so much love put into this game you can tell the people that are putting it together also grew up playing that and it's one of their favorite stories ever told and there's so much value to that. But, yeah, I agree, I think, uh, even though it's all quality and it's polished and works great, a lot of it doesn't need to be there, because it's just there to exist yeah it doesn't further a lot of the.
Speaker 1:Now, you said something earlier because we were talking about it, because I still have my Switch and I kind of limit my platforms that I play on, I still play in these capacities. But you said that it was released clearly on PC and PS4 and PS5. And this is just a naive question for the masses. When you say it's released on these different platforms, same exact game for everybody, you all playing the exact same game, or is there? Different platforms mean a different experience?
Speaker 3:Not anymore. That used to be the case, but today a multi-platform release will be the same exact game, with differences being resolution and stuff like that. So, like a PC, if you've got a good PC build, it's going to look a lot better than it does on the PS4.
Speaker 1:But it is the same assets, just rendered at different quality, um, and the same experience, all the same stuff. So yeah, do you have um, would you, would you, and I guess we could, I guess, eventually, if we do anything with this, did you hear that I did it sound like a bird whistle or something.
Speaker 3:I know that was kind of weird um.
Speaker 1:Would you recommend this game?
Speaker 3:I would fully recommend this game, at least to try it. Because of my experience I had no interest in it. I've got a friend who convinced me to try it out and I absolutely fell in love with it. So even if it doesn't seem like it's your thing, it's. There's a lot of relevant conversation, the characters are so goofy and impossible to relate to in some moments, but at the other time it's all centered around real human emotion and it's it's something you can really connect to, so it's, it's more than worth the try. I think it's very likely people will fall in love with it and it's why this final fantasy franchise. I think they've got 16 what they call mainline releases and they keep going back to seven because that's just the one that connects the interesting, many people yeah there's so many.
Speaker 3:There's movies of final fantasy seven. There's spinoffs of final fantasy seven um yeah, no it's.
Speaker 3:It's a great entry point. That's where I fell in love with it. And then I played the newest final fantasy 16 when that came out, because I was into seven and I fell in love with that game as well. And they're they that one star review saying they're not really pushing kind of the boundaries of what games are? I would probably disagree with that for the most part, especially with these final fantasy games, because they are pushing the boundary with what people expect from these. No, it's not the greatest kind of technological innovation. They're just beautiful games with beautiful stories and there's plenty of value to that.
Speaker 1:That guy's a dick.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's the internet. I'm going to give you a.
Speaker 1:Final Fantasy. Win for that.
Speaker 3:There you go. Yeah, One of the most iconic parts of those games are that's what we'll play when you like any game.
Speaker 1:No, you like any game, no matter what it is that you review, if it, if it gets that sound, that means bailey likes it that's a win, that's a yes bailey liked it.
Speaker 3:I really like this one. Bailey liked it. Wow, I really like this one.
Speaker 1:Bailey liked it, bailey loved that. That's good shit. And again, I think the thing about that one looking at that trailer and all that stuff, it kind of I think for me sometimes. Just like I told you, I went all the way back and I started playing some of the original. I went back to the Switch and playing Zelda. Yeah yeah, yeah, it's fun, it's so crazy.
Speaker 3:Go back and it's a little bit harder than you remember, oh absolutely yeah, there's so much focus today on kind of accessibility and the design is intended now for anyone to be able to pick it up and figure it out. That was not the case in the 80s and 90s when those games were first coming out exactly. And so, yeah, there's so much fun to kind of try to overcome that challenge and I agree, going back to those old games are a lot of a lot of fun and really shows you how games got to where they are today and there's so much kind of still crossover of design philosophy and it's really the same goal.
Speaker 1:They're just trying to provide entertainment, and final fantasy is a great example do you do that sometimes you go back all the way back and just like start a game all the way over again. Or do you do that much like go all the way back, like retro, retro?
Speaker 3:so I I try it often. The nintendo switch is great. They've now got that library of super old games. Yeah, it's more accessible for me now than it's ever been. I'm not one to find emulators, which is really, really popular, I just I like the ease of use of a console that I turn on and the thing I want is working in front of me. I don't like any extra effort, I just want to play. So nintendo's made that more accessible and I do love it. I am not one that sees those through to completion most of the time, um, besides the old school Mario brothers games, those ones I could play over and over for my whole life Um, but I, I, I really appreciate being able to go back and, like I was just saying a second ago, kind of see where it started, what still exists today, what's changed? Um, there's so much I like to and the games are, like I also said a second ago, the goal is entertainment, and a good game's going to still be entertaining 20 years later.
Speaker 1:That's exactly it, although I've gotten so old now that I could not get Indiana Jones to start on that PlayStation fucking monster thing.
Speaker 3:What is that? It's a very cool idea. Playstation, for a few years now, has this system program called Remote Play, where it's their answer to the Switch or no. So it's a handheld, and that compares to the Switch. For sure. It's all streaming, though, so it's basically like you have to. The Switch is standalone, you can bring it anywhere.
Speaker 1:It'll work the same anywhere. I'm tracking you.
Speaker 3:I can't use that PlayStation portal without Wi-Fi, and that also has to be really good Wi-Fi. I'm going to work the same anywhere I'm tracking you. I can't use that PlayStation portal without Wi-Fi, and that also has to be really good Wi-Fi. I'm also brand new to that thing. I brought it to my parents this weekend and it didn't work at all, so I'm still figuring that out.
Speaker 1:Your parents. You mean me. Yes, yeah, I'm right here To your house. I'm talking to the audience Austin. Austin yeah.
Speaker 3:Austin and probably Dano Dano.
Speaker 1:Probably David.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we'll have a nerd army pretty soon. All right, move on to the last one, because we're kind of actually going through this thing. A little bit Time goes by in these things, but this one that we went in Scotts Valley Cinema here in Santa Cruz, you guys came to town. I guess we didn't even say at the beginning I'm Brian Upton, this is Bailey Upton and I'm father. He is son. Princess Bride is re-released every once in a while. They have like three days and we so we went and it was the first time I've ever seen Princess Bride in the theater. Yes, love the movie.
Speaker 3:Seen it too many times to count. Yeah, I've always considered, just because it's hard to pick something over it, that's maybe my favorite movie of all time.
Speaker 1:it's it's up there right it just is, it's.
Speaker 3:It's one of those only movies that from the second it starts, the second it ends. I'm smiling, I'm laughing, I'm quoting it.
Speaker 1:I just everything gives me so much joy yeah and so, yeah, to see it in a theater was a very special experience and just to see I think to see a lot of established actors, because it's you know, some were established and they did it somewhere on the very much up Robin Wright and things like that. They're on the up of their careers but fully committed to that Monty Python sort of concept from a book that was written. I've never read the book. I haven't either.
Speaker 3:We were talking about that yesterday. Definitely something.
Speaker 1:Let's listen and we'll get one here. Okay, I've seen worse. Bye, bye. Boys. Have fun storming the castle. Where's buttercup? Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up buttercup is mary humperdinck. All we have to do is get in, break up the wedding, steal the princess, make our escape. It doesn't need much time for Dilly Danny.
Speaker 3:Marriage.
Speaker 2:There it is.
Speaker 3:Marriage is what?
Speaker 2:brings us together today. You've always been so kind to me and I won't be seeing you again since I'm killing myself.
Speaker 1:It's just so good. All right, so let's do the one star and then we'll talk about it a little bit more. Keep going in the background because it's so fucking funny. But let me get to the one-star review here. Absolutely incredible. Oh, you know what? I can read the Final Fantasy one again. I don't need to do it, I don't need to do that.
Speaker 1:One-star review. No, we'll do the five-star review first. It's an unqualified success that blends New York wit with timeless storytelling, a risky piece of filmmaking that never feels so, and that's a perfect example. I don't know run times an hour and 40 minutes. It's tight, it's quick and it's um, and it does not feel like it's burdening you down a little bit. We don't want to know, michael, che do we? I do, but we'll get rid of him there.
Speaker 1:That was uh, that's actually worth talking about. Um, the one star my six-year-old puts on a better shows in the backyard. What a load of clap trap. Not only did the movie not make a lot of sense, but the acting left a lot to be desired scores highly on the sphincter clincher scale. I was all surprised that peter falk would lend his talent to a production of this caliber. Maybe he was in need of money, who knows? Anyway, a waste of my fucking money. I like these bad reviews.
Speaker 3:Swear yeah right, they're really angry they're angry exists yeah.
Speaker 1:I was even foolish enough to buy the DVD. Who's got DVDs anymore?
Speaker 3:That's the whole. Thing.
Speaker 1:Never heard of that. Yeah, end of my time, waste of my time, and you know. Here's the thing. It's like a lot of movies I will disagree on Princess Bride that I think a lot of movies quote unquote don't stand the test of time. Sure, I think I remember I tried to pull up terminator with you at one point when you were pre-teen teenager. It's claymation, it doesn't hold up yeah, the concept does exactly, but you have to really imagine when that came out.
Speaker 3:It was the greatest thing of all time and it wasn't that when I first saw. It's still great and I do love it, but I.
Speaker 1:I was stunned that we put on the terminator and I had an image of it as a. Whenever I saw it it was brand new cutting technology. And then I'm like wait till you see this fucking freaky shit, bailey, and it's going to blow your mind. It's the future and you go in and it's a Wallace and Gromit show yeah exactly? Do you remember that? It was just like it doesn't land.
Speaker 3:Oh, absolutely, and you established enough of a appreciation for that kind of media that that stuff has never bothered me, but but it's still a valid critique for for others for sure. Princess bride is something I've had a conversation about before. Like I wonder what my opinion of that movie would be if I watched it today for the first time. Like, so much of that, so much of the love I have for that movie, is because I just fell in love with it as a kid and I'm not saying that as a critique. I just always have been curious of, like what, what's that movie going to be like to someone that has no ties to it at all? And I imagine that's where a review like that comes from it does, and I think it's.
Speaker 1:It's like anything else. It's almost like business if you get like a soft introduction to a client, you have a better chance, chance to close them. How are you introduced to something comic books or Star Wars or whatever it is? Because if you're not introduced, I think you're doing reviews with swear words and sphincter Right. I think all of a sudden you're angry because you're watching. Here's the thing you know my whole thing, that the two worlds and two realities can exist. At one point the two truths are in a bottle. That movie is fucking terrible.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, I can see a world where, without any preparation, where you come out of it let's say you're not necessarily lent towards fantasy and disconnect and the humor of Monty Python there's an equal part of the human race that would go see that and go, yeah, no, I mean, not even close right.
Speaker 3:I think absolutely. It really reminds me of an Upton Family classic of the Troll 2, where that is a movie I adore, but it is. The whole reputation of it is that it's horrible, it's the worst thing ever. But the way it was introduced to me was this is again entertaining. It's not, this isn't going to blow your mind, but then it does blow your mind because it's the worst thing you've ever seen, ever. And so there's there's so many perspectives to it that end up making your final opinion matter but there's no doubt.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but there's also that part of it where it's all about um marketing and promotion, because we would have troll watch parties with your friends, totally. So the hype was there and the sleeping bags and pajamas be on and be like wait. Do you see this shit?
Speaker 3:that's just it. If it doesn't, if you don't get it, if someone comes to you and we'll use princess friday I go to someone and say you have to see this, it's the best movie of all time. This is my number one favorite movie, and if it doesn't connect to them like that, then that also amplifies how bad they think the movie is.
Speaker 1:That's exactly it, because I told them it was good and the very number one best thing about Troll 2. There's two things about Troll 2. What's the number one thing about Troll 2? That's the greatest thing. Then we'll have you answer.
Speaker 3:Number two I know exactly what they are. First one being there is never a Troll 1.
Speaker 1:That's right. And the number two thing is there's no trolls in the movie.
Speaker 3:That's it.
Speaker 1:You got it so it's Troll 2, and there's no Troll 1, and there's no trolls.
Speaker 3:It's about goblins and I dare you not to watch Princess Bride. Are we going to recommend it?
Speaker 1:Always. It's always a recommend for me. Bailey liked it. Trolls 2. Bailey liked it very much. That's good shit. I mean, that's actually a double. That's really more than our sponsors paid us for yeah, that we give a double movie review yeah, and so we'll figure that on the back end and so um it's a fun comparison it's next we're going to talk about um.
Speaker 1:this still work will be remembered as one of the greatest moments. Why are you telling severance season two? Let's go for a little bit, because guess what Shocker, it's a fucking hallway.
Speaker 3:I know you're still weighing whether to return to Lumen. Dark, moody, yep Hallway. Dramatic. Dark, moody, sprinting around Hallway.
Speaker 1:Yes, happy, dark, moody, Dark, moody, dark, moody, dark, moody, panic, panic coming, nope what do you all did even the music, the staging, all these things. So we're talking about severance season two.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they're back um what do you think I'm obsessed. I mean, I fell in love with season one. That theme song gets stuck in my head for days after every episode I watch. It's one of my favorite things in shows where they it's so satisfying. They introduce so many questions, you get so many answers and there's always another question because of the answer. I was talking about it to my wife recently and it reminds me a lot of Lost, where you can see the show writers. In some ways they value the question more than the answer. I think that can be pretty. It will be interesting to see how that goes in the future. Sometimes comparing something to Lost can be nerve-wracking for a show I love. But yeah, that's it. The show is constantly just gripping. It's always giving you what you want, making you wonder what's happening next, and it's a bunch of lovable characters that you want the best for and you just have a feeling none of that's going to happen. I immediately fell into it. I know you had a little lag on episode one.
Speaker 3:Yep, and then the second one picked it back up for you. I loved it, but I'm also I'm pretty easy to please once I start to love something. I'm the guy who loved the finale of Game of Thrones because it was something I loved so much coming to an end no-transcript.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, let let the, let the plot roll out over a period of time. But I also feel like a little bit um, um, sometimes I feel, and I'm overthinking if I feel a little manipulated by the eight or ten episode commitment and sometimes this 47 minutes of you know of, of build up for a one minute hook, um, to kind of get to a 10 episode commitment. You know, rather, here's I guess here's my point. I'd rather severance or silo or or any of these shows make six compelling episodes rather than 10, um, with 30% filler, filler and and that's the only thing that that I get. There is, like you know, I again, I'm, I'm for it, I'm in it. But man, I feel a little bit burned sometimes when I, when I spend 52 minutes and it didn't, it didn't advance it Um, even a single bit. You know it didn bit. You know, to a certain extent, but no, severance is.
Speaker 1:I think there's something about severance that is timely with where we're going with AI, timely where we're going with sort of, you know, just overall kind of sophistication of our technology and our human experience as a species. It poses that question what do and don't we want to participate in and what you know as far as human emotions and all of that part. I get that, I get that part of it. But I think the thing where severance is and I'd be got to read about more, maybe we'll do it before we do this again is I think there's some kind of like um, intimate connection with covid. There's something about severance not that, not the plot line, but the time it came out and the you know, the, the, the you know there. There's, there's some of these shows that came out right after or during covid.
Speaker 2:I think severance has been three years since 22, so it's essentially kind of gets out 21, 22.
Speaker 1:And so we're in the back end of that and it was like this gift from the gods, it was like this it was this, you know, and it was, it was we're isolated, yep.
Speaker 3:And TV went away for a while.
Speaker 1:We're sort of TV went away but we're isolated and we're sort of in the real world. We're living in this kind of like apocalyptic, weird covered world and you're watching this sort of dark vision of a, of an apocalyptic, kind of like isolated world totally, and it connected in some way. I don't know if it's the greatest show ever, but it came at a very interesting time. It's a very good point and I've never seen anything like it no, I agree that again.
Speaker 3:That's why it's so appealing, is it's so much? Well, I mean, the argument exists and it's true that every story has been told before. Severance does such a good job of just putting it in a very new light yeah very modern and I don't know what's next.
Speaker 1:For that I think it's um. You know, I think you know my thought with um, clearly the outset of the season. There's no spoilers here. But you know essentially the. You know the the outset of the season. There's no spoilers here. But essentially the concept of being severed in season one is that you basically willingly sever and you have an innie and an outie, correct, that's the only thing. They call them right. Lumen has a different name for them.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I can't think of it right now, but the common reference is any and audi you're, you're basically any is the work self that's severed from your audi self, that lives the life after you. So you get these paychecks every two weeks. You walk into an elevator you're severed. You walk into a workplace you have no memory of either two different existences going.
Speaker 1:That's exactly it two different existences, yeah and one just gets a paycheck and they don't have to do the shit we all do for eight or nine hours a day to get that paycheck. And so we're separating it. Fantastical concept came at the right time, I think, for me. You know season one and season two. Even though I was a little bit, I felt a little adrift in episode one, right. Episode two, clearly, is giving us a look at the Audis, right, and so if this season is more of the Audis in their real life connection with that conflict, I think I'm going only one direction. Yeah, brian likes it Big time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Sounds good. I mean, I think that's kind of where we land and then that's it. Unnamed podcast. Did we miss anything? Did we talk about movies?
Speaker 3:Championships movie, tv games that was what we pitched.
Speaker 1:So the Bills, I guess the final. But who do you think? Who do you think wins Bills? No lines or anything, just the Bailey sports perspective. Oh yeah, bills Chiefs. Who wins? Bills Eagles I almost said the old name Eagles, commanders, eagles. Almost got us canceled.
Speaker 3:Yeah, right out of the gate. I can't say that anymore.
Speaker 1:And so, and for Severance, princess Bride, Final Fantasy 7 Is there a bad one? There's a boss theme, such good sounds. Oh yeah, the soundtrack's a huge part of it. Wait a minute, that's like even more grand. It is, yeah, More orchestral version.
Speaker 3:We'll save that one.
Speaker 1:We like these ones, that's if we like it, if we love it. If we love it, I'll turn it up. All right, buddy, that was fun, perfectly dramatic.
Speaker 3:That was great. Love it All right, so that's it.
Speaker 1:And then we'll throw it out there and then pick four more for next week.
