14 - January 29th, 2007 (Predates Episode Titles)
CJ’s intro for Phil this week called him “the man who wishes every game was called” this, a Gameboy puzzler and first North American release of a series that is a perennial topic of conversation on the Player One Podcast.
What is Mario's Picross?
Chris Baker guest hosts - comic talk superseded game talk for a while; they discussed Peter Parker predator Skip Wescott, and this child superhero team CJ was a big fan of, until he brought the show back on track by asking “hey are we doing a video game show here?”
What is Power Pack?
Rich Grisham guests, and said he misses Greg Ford. CJ mentioned that Ford was apart of a recent Player One Podcast tournament for this Nintendo 3DS game
What is Mario Golf: World Tour? (I miss "In case you forgot, you're listening to the Player One Podcast")
It was a two man show of just CJ and Greg this week. Greg said it felt like a throwback to episode zero, and suggested talking about the launch of the Wii, and this Rockstar title
What is Bully?
This episode opened with a lot of talk about Phil's kidney stones - I also got kidney stones in 2020, and re-listening to this gave me Phantom Pain, just like the fifth game in this series
What is Metal Gear Solid?
The 2024 GOTY show! This game was both Phil and CJ's pick for “best non-2024 game they played in 2024.” Phil started playing it after its sequel was announced to be set in Hawaii
What is Yakuza: Like a Dragon? (good choice, guys.)
This game had a demo on the Xbox 360 this week - CJ seemed lukewarm on it, and Dan Dormer seemed downright negative toward it, but it would go on to frequently be cited as one of the crew's favorite games of the early 360 era, and also gain two sequels
What is Crackdown?
Greg asked “Is Batman in it?” about this upcoming fighter that C-Bake worked on, prompting him to quip “We haven't announced all the characters yet. I can neither confirm or deny Batman.” He did deny the presence of Skip, however
What is Marvel vs Capcom 3?
CJ - “People shat on it for not having online multiplayer.” Greg - “They should have shat on it for being a bad game,” to which CJ emphatically replies, “No, [this Wii U launch title] is GOOD!” I agree, CJ.
What is Nintendo Land?
This movie was announced as a go, from Legendary Pictures. Danny DeVito did not end up playing the titular role, despite a Twitter outcry
What is Pokemon: Detective Pikachu?
Tom Holland was announced as the lead character in this video game movie adaptation. I don't care what anyone says, that move was fine!
What is Uncharted?
Greg’s favourite surprise of 2024 was when Nintendo announced this game, and he described “shaking with excitement” at its reveal. Unfortunately, it was also his biggest disappointment of the year when the game turned out not so good
What is Mario & Luigi Brothership?
Dan's mention of this, the first World of Warcraft expansion, solicited groans from the rest of the guys, and CJ admitted to cutting out half of the discussion on it from last week's episode
What is World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade?
Phil brought up this NES game in the context of its Worlds of Power book - how come Anticipation never got a Worlds of Power book?
What is Blaster Master?
CJ told a story about winning a press tournament for this game, which scored him a PS2 signed by the band Korn.
What is Amplitude?
Greg talked at length about Sega's Sonic 25th Anniversary Party and its horrible audio issues, which led to a high pitched whistle being an Easter Egg in this Sonic game
What is Sonic Mania?
The boys spend some time ripping on Mark Wahlberg, and don't even mention he was already in a video game movie - he played the titular role in this film based on a game by Remedy Entertainment
What is Max Payne?
Phil and CJ both included this title in their top 5, but Greg listed it as a disappointment. I agree with Greg, I too got bored of Bed Simulator 2024
What is Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom?
Transition music between segments? Deadpool? These old shows are weird. Anyway, one of Phil's Deadpool picks got a release date, this third Paper Mario game.
What is Super Paper Mario?
Greg told a story about going to Las Vegas to shoot uzis for a preview of this Namco shooter - I was surprised to learn there are four games in the series.
What is Dead to Rights?
”I guess this company exists?” said CJ, about this boutique retro console manufacturer, which had just announced its second system - for $500. CJ seemed extremely sceptical
What is Analogue? (Did any of you guys end up getting the Analogue NT?)
Greg had to answer a phone call, and CJ inserted music from this Nintendo service to cover the edit - a bossa nova beat that had me asking “What time is it in Japan?”
What is the Wii Shopping Channel?
(If you don't know what I'm referencing, do yourselves a favour and take two minutes to watch this:)
Nintendo announced it was releasing the first game in this long running series for the first time ever in English, on Switch. The collectors edition came with a crystal NES cart
What is Fire Emblem?
CJ and Phil both had Astrobot at number one, but Greg chose this indie game for his top spot - maybe the most addictive game of all time?
What is Balatro?
We got a voicemail message from future 4th chair “Mick” Phillips from Salt Lake City, asking about Xbox Live and Windows cross play. He must have called the Player One voicemail line at this number, which was listed in episode descriptions until episode 247
What is 713-893-8069?
C-Bake is a big wheel down at the Spider-Man factory, and talked about this upcoming game he was working on, which did dimension hopping years before Into the Spider-Verse
What is Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions?
(Fun fact: Miles Morales didn't even exist as a character yet)
Phil assures the gang that Nintendo will bounce back from its recent financial woes, thanks to him being a “whale” for this quirky free-to-play sports game for 3DS
What is Rusty's Real Deal Baseball?
The episode title came from a great discussion on anxiety CJ and Greg experienced over having games they worked on get poor reviews, “like having your kid in the talent show get booed.” The kid in question this week was an Adult Swim games title that currently has a respectable 77 on Metacritic.
What is Headlander?
Phil felt inspired to bust out a thick French accent after CJ described playing this graphic adventure game about a girl detective. “You can just say ‘detective’.” - Phil.
What is Jenny LeClue: Detectivue?
Greg listed Mario Kart 9 as his most anticipated game - a listener in the chat predicted Mario Kart 9 as Greg’s biggest disappointment of 2025. Phil was hesitant to select this oft delayed game as his most anticipated, unsure if it would come out in 2025. “It HAS to!” - CJ. It didn't.
What is Mina the Hollower?