Ep. 447 - Formative Game Uncles

Frank, Ash, and Brandon answer questions about episodic games, the ever-changing “average gamer,” and full-frontal Mario.

Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

Watch episodes with full video on YouTube (youtube.com/insertcreditshow)

Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums (forums.insertcredit.com)

SHOW NOTES:

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Video Game History Foundation (gamehistory.org)

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Sonic Sez (youtube.com/watch?v=6kjFKYrx9Fs)

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Punky Brewster (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punky_Brewster)

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“I’m brave, I’m hairy, and your dad loves me.” (mobygames.com/game/243136/deltarune)

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Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - The Lost Woods Theme (music.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt2m1K_eVFE)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alarmo

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay

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John Mayer - Waiting on the World to Change (youtube.com/watch?v=oBIxScJ5rlY)

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Evanesence - Bring Me to Life (youtube.com/watch?v=3YxaaGgTQYM)

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Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (youtube.com/watch?v=pIgZ7gMze7A)

1: When should a game be released in chapters as opposed to all at once? (04:28)

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Deltarune (mobygames.com/game/243136/deltarune)

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Esper’s bluesky post (bsky.app/profile/esper.bsky.social/post/3lqt7h…)

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Sam & Max series (mobygames.com/group/6520/sam-max-licensees)

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Toby Fox (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Fox)

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Poppy Playtime (mobygames.com/group/17816/poppy-playtime-series)

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Dispatch (mobygames.com/game/243630/dispatch)

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Telltale Games (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telltale_Games)

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AdHoc Studio (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AdHoc_Studio)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamcast

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Grauen no Torikago Kapitel 3: Kansei (bsky.app/profile/brandon.insertcredit.com/post…)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameTap

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American McGee’s Grimm (mobygames.com/game/79580/american-mcgees-grimm)

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Katamari Damacy (mobygames.com/game/14970/katamari-damacy)

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Tim Burton (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temu

2: How old should a game be before it gets a remake? (09:54)

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The Last of Us series (mobygames.com/group/10525/the-last-of-us-series)

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Resident Evil series (mobygames.com/group/374/biohazard-resident-evi…)

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Silent Hill series (mobygames.com/group/476/silent-hill-series)

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Final Fantasy VII: Remake (mobygames.com/game/141485/final-fantasy-vii-re…)

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Metal Gear Solid series (mobygames.com/group/380/metal-gear-series)

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MindsEye (mobygames.com/game/243449/mindseye)

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Star Fox (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Fox_(2026_video_game))

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Disney’s Robin Hood (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_(1973_film))

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Five Nights at Freddy’s series (mobygames.com/group/11026/five-nights-at-fredd…)

3: What would you consider the worst timed video game releases in history? (15:18)

• Kotaku: Konami Is Suing To Unmask Whoever’s Responsible For The Major Metal Gear Solid 2 Source Code Leak (kotaku.com/metal-gear-solid-2-source-code-leak…)

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Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories (mobygames.com/game/135222/disaster-report-4-su…)

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Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (mobygames.com/game/202384/advance-wars-12-re-b…)

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Propeller Arena (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propeller_Arena)

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Grand Theft Auto VI (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_VI)

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Animal Crossing: New Horizons (mobygames.com/game/141533/animal-crossing-new-…)

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Doom Eternal (mobygames.com/game/143581/doom-eternal)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbenheimer

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Hades (mobygames.com/game/122190/hades)

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Battleborn (mobygames.com/game/80719/battleborn)

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Overwatch (mobygames.com/game/79170/overwatch)

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The Outer Worlds (mobygames.com/game/119143/the-outer-worlds)

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Outer Wilds (mobygames.com/game/127776/outer-wilds)

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Duke Nukem Forever (mobygames.com/game/51856/duke-nukem-forever-ba…)

4: What is an uncle game? (20:06)

• The Guardian: Long live the ‘unc game’ (theguardian.com/games/2026/apr/15/pushing-butt…)

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AAVE (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Vernacu…)

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (mobygames.com/game/250460/call-of-duty-black-o…)

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World of WarCraft (mobygames.com/game/15620/world-of-warcraft)

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Madden series (mobygames.com/group/344/madden-series)

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FIFA series (mobygames.com/group/183/ea-fifa-ea-sports-fc-s…)

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Wordle (mobygames.com/game/177476/wordle)

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Spelling Bee (mobygames.com/game/148294/spelling-bee)

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Roblox (deadline.com/2026/02/roblox-sued-child-danger-…)

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Mecca Chameleon (mobygames.com/game/262630/meccha-chameleon)

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Mina the Hollower (mobygames.com/game/261399/mina-the-hollower)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendslop

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Grand Theft Auto V (mobygames.com/game/62275/grand-theft-auto-v)

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NCAA Football series (mobygames.com/group/798/ncaa-football-series)

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NBA 2K series (mobygames.com/group/842/nba-2k-series)

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NBA Jam series (mobygames.com/group/838/nba-jam-series)

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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (mobygames.com/game/15393/grand-theft-auto-san-…)

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Tiger Woods PGA series (mobygames.com/group/968/tiger-woods-pga-series)

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Street Fighter II (mobygames.com/game/6239/street-fighter-ii)

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Sonic the Hedgehog (mobygames.com/game/6579/sonic-the-hedgehog)

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Guilty Gear series (mobygames.com/group/3869/guilty-gear-series)

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Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series (mobygames.com/group/12279/dragon-ball-z-budoka…)

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Def Jam: Fight for NY (mobygames.com/game/15047/def-jam-fight-for-ny)

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Tony Hawk skateboarding series (mobygames.com/group/442/tony-hawk-skateboardin…)

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Lode Runner (mobygames.com/game/243/lode-runner)

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Duke Nukem series (mobygames.com/group/149/duke-nukem-series)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coleco

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellivision

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Sega Genesis (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Genesis)

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Mortal Kombat (mobygames.com/game/599/mortal-kombat)

5: Room Check! (29:39)

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youtube.com/insertcreditshow

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Soundsheets (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexi_disc)

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Darius (mobygames.com/game/22038/darius)

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Space Harrier (mobygames.com/game/1434/space-harrier)

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Quartet (mobygames.com/game/155269/quartet)

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Fantasy Zone (mobygames.com/game/8220/fantasy-zone)

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Master System (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_System)

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Osamu Murata (segaretro.org/Osamu_Murata)

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Casette tape (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassette_tape)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KQED-FM

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Forum (kqed.org/forum)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega

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Take Your Daughter to Work Day (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Our_Daughters_and_S…)

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City Year Cleveland (cityyear.org/cleveland)

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Jesse Owens (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Owens)

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V for Vendetta (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta)

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V for Vendetta (2005) (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_for_Vendetta_(film))

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarabaeidae

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Dung beetle (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dung_beetle)

6: SuperDQP asks, which game franchise should get a “the …