Idle Thumbs 199: Bogost in the Shell

[Chris]

Idle Thumbs 199:

Bogost in the Shell

The old becomes new, in a pod cast by two,

as a title once lost becomes found.

Chris and Jake plunge in to the new Darkest Dungeon,

and Besiege delights as it confounds.

Sean joins Chris and Jake before the ad break,

and Gex lore is run into the ground.

Things Discussed: Darkest Dungeon, Besiege, The Order: 1886, Captain Forever, Captain Forever Remix, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Nickelodeon

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[Blambo]

I've been groaning mighty hard at the titles lately, haha.

[tegan]

This is a pretty great episode title.

[jennegatron]

I've been groaning mighty hard at the titles lately, haha.

 

 

This is a pretty great episode title.

 

I'm with tegan on this one. I had a moment where I thought "that is a name so good, that I'm surprised they haven't used it before now."

[Count_Zero_Interrupt]

Totally psyched to hear Chris likes Darkest Dungeon. I backed it on Kickstarter, so I have a copy coming to me when it fully releases, which means I'm trying really hard to resist just buying in to early access to start playing now. I wanted to wait to play the totally finished version, but the more I hear about the game the weaker my resolve gets...

[Badfinger]

"ARE YOU GUYS TALKIN ABOUT SNICK?!"

[tegan]

[posh_somme]

haven't listened to the episode yet, and it's hinted at in the description but this is indeed the second Bogost-based pun used as an idle thumbs episode title

[tberton]

Chris, was the board game you were referring to Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mt. Skullzfyre? If so, shame on you for not remembering the full name.

 

Here's the art from that to remind me, in case I'm wrong about my assumption.

 

[pabosher]

I remember Jake complaining one episode that a reader had suggested this title for the previous episode, and he wished they had thought of it to use it.

Now. Here we are. Nearly 200 episodes later and you have your wish, Mr Rodkin.

[syntheticgerbil]

RATCHET and CLANK Nuts and Bolts?!

[WickedCestus]

Man, this is so weird. I was just listening to an Episode in the 60-65 range where the name "Bogost in the Shell" was recommended to them in a reader mail, and then I saw this and couldn't figure out what year I was living in. 

[tegan]

Because Gargoyles and 90s TV themes were both brought up: I secretly hope that if we ever get a Saints Row V, it takes advantage of both the time travel set up by the ending of SRIV and Keith David being a member of the Saints and finds some opportunity for him to say "1000 years ago... superstition and the sword ruled. It was a time of darkness... it was a world of fear."

 

[tberton]

"My other fingers are also opposable" sounds like an Octopus bumper sticker.

 

This episode made me release that the Robot Apocalypse has been a red herring all along. It's octopuses we've got to be worried about.

 

EDIT: Man, I really want to write a paper about Nintendo in the context of Japanese and North American culture over the last thirty years. Unfortunately, Japan's pretty far outside my area of study and I don't read Japanese. But somebody should absolutely do this.

[tegan]

It's weird seeing the little bits of Japanese culture that creep into Nintendo. The classic example is the Tanooki leaf, but the weirdest one for me is the two Pokémon that make up a Japanese comedy routine.

 

Wobbuffet may be based on the late Japanese comedian 林家三平 Sanpei Hayashiya, who was famous for repeatedly touching his hand to his forehead while saying one of his trademark lines, そうなんす、奥さん sō nansu, okusan, "That's the way it is, ma'am."

[...]

Sohnano is nearly homophonous with the phrase そうなの sō na no, which means, "Really?" or "Is that so?" with only a difference in tone. It is played off by its evolution, Wobbuffet, whose Japanese name of Sonans is homophonous with the interjection そうなんす sō na-n-su, which roughly means, "That's the way it is." Together, they make for a potential perpetual conversation of, "Really?" followed by, "That's the way it is," and so on, as seen in Camp Pikachu.

[Henroid]

Oh man Jake, the mall-pinball episode is the ONLY story I remember from Are You Afraid of the Dark.

[Jake]

I know it's Banjo Kazooie I'm sorry world.

[Henroid]

That octopus discussion (things I never thought I'd type on this forum; that) reminded me of a documentary style show I saw a couple of years ago.

 

It was a loosely-scientific "what if" about Earth, when in millions of years the tectonic plate cycle creates a new super-continent. There was a lot of projections about how various species could evolve, but the highlight was the end of the episode in which they were asked what the new dominant species would be. The answer was squids. Because the climate of this hypothetical earth would be more wet and rain-forest covered, it would allow squids to become landbased.

 

Cue the rendered video of squids swinging from trees like monkeys.

[tegan]

That octopus discussion (things I never thought I'd type on this forum; that) reminded me of a documentary style show I saw a couple of years ago.

 

It was a loosely-scientific "what if" about Earth, when in millions of years the tectonic plate cycle creates a new super-continent. There was a lot of projections about how various species could evolve, but the highlight was the end of the episode in which they were asked what the new dominant species would be. The answer was squids. Because the climate of this hypothetical earth would be more wet and rain-forest covered, it would allow squids to become landbased.

 

Cue the rendered video of squids swinging from trees like monkeys.

 

I tracked that special down a while back to rewatch it and man does it not hold up. The CG is terrible and some of the ideas (particularly the landsquid) are pretty scientifically unsound.

[syntheticgerbil]

The episode with the static TVs and the blank faces of Are You Afraid really creeped me out. Pinball was pretty creepy too just because it filled you with the dread of a bad ending where you are stuck in some kind of pinball hell. I remember being upset that later episodes always had a good ending where everything was okay again. That's not creepy at all. I wonder if there was some sort of pressure to not have any episodes end so bleak.

[Henroid]

I tracked that special down a while back to rewatch it and man does it not hold up. The CG is terrible and some of the ideas (particularly the landsquid) are pretty scientifically unsound.

It seems like one of those things born out of someone's fever-dream. "I'M TELLING YOU THE SQUIDS ARE GOING TO TAKE OVER."

[Dezro]

I kind of wish this episode was titled "Diplomatic Pouch".

[Coods]

The last Chris/Jake episode was the podblast With Cheese Plate, and I liked that episode 

 

Looking forward to a shiny new themesong!

[Merus]

Personally I'm looking forward to the original topical songs that Chris very definitely promised on Twitter

[Jutranjo]

Looking forward to an anxiety filled #200, where everyone is afraid of the recording failing again.