Ep. 460 - Guiltlessly Child Free, with Shivam Bhatt

Writer, podcaster, and Hindu pandit Shivam Bhatt (bsky.app/profile/shivambhatt.bsky.social) joins the panel to cover spirituality in games, Activision’s Halo, and video games for dogs. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Shivam Bhatt. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

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“Peek Aboo Call Me Back And Nuisance Back. Pac-Mania.” (reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/h8tz14/til…)

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Nintendo 64 (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_64)

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Mario Kart series (mobygames.com/group/1773/mario-kart-series)

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Nintendo DS (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS)

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Ping Pals (mobygames.com/game/31046/ping-pals)

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Legend of Zelda series (mobygames.com/group/596/legend-of-zelda-series)

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Death Stranding (mobygames.com/game/136593/death-stranding)

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Quake III: Arena (mobygames.com/game/649/quake-iii-arena)

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Journey (mobygames.com/game/55167/journey)

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Casual Magic with Shivam Bhatt (casualmagic.libsyn.com)

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Shivam And Wheeler Love Magic (directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/3ef915b3-30…)

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Chronicles of Dragonlance (sites.libsyn.com/398519)

1: Which video games have you had spiritual experiences with? (08:26)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism

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Magic: The Gathering (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_The_Gathering)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayana

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_(The_Legend_of_Zelda)

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Cloud Strife (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Strife)

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Rez (mobygames.com/game/5613/rez)

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Tetris Effect (mobygames.com/game/115729/tetris-effect)

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Tetsuya Mizuguchi (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsuya_Mizuguchi)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeopardy!

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Dance Dance Revolution series (mobygames.com/group/567/dance-dance-revolution…)

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beatmania series (mobygames.com/group/8355/beatmania-series)

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PlayStation VR (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_VR)

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Child of Eden (mobygames.com/game/51840/child-of-eden)

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Born again (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_again)

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Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan / Elite Beat Agents series (mobygames.com/group/7433/osu-tatakae-ouendan-e…)

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The Righteous Gemstones (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Righteous_Gemstones)

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NieR: Automata (mobygames.com/game/84102/nier-automata)

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Orthodox Judaism (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodox_Judaism)

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NetHack (mobygames.com/game/820/nethack)

2: What is the difference in tone and content between Western and Asian dramas? (19:54)

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David and Goliath (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliath)

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Dark Shadows (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Shadows)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural_(American_T…)

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Game of Thrones (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_Thrones)

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Babylon 5 (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_5)

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

3: What is Activision’s Halo going to look like? (25:36)

• Kotaku: Activision Taking Over Halo Franchise And What Remains Of Halo Studios Will Now Be A Support Team (kotaku.com/activision-taking-over-halo-franchi…)

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Call of Duty series (mobygames.com/group/2640/call-of-duty-universe)

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Halo: Infinite (mobygames.com/game/176543/halo-infinite-campaign)

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Halo: Reach (mobygames.com/game/48291/halo-reach)

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id Software (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id_Software)

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Pitfall! (mobygames.com/game/8793/pitfall)

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Chopper Command (mobygames.com/game/9331/chopper-command)

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

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Elder Scrolls series (mobygames.com/group/125/elder-scrolls-series)

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

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

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Peak (mobygames.com/game/243696/peak)

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BeamNG.drive (mobygames.com/game/84551/beamngdrive)

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Roblox (openclassactions.com/news/roblox-lawsuits-sett…)

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Final Fantasy series (mobygames.com/group/4847/final-fantasy-series)

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Burnout series (mobygames.com/group/1322/burnout-series)

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Bluey: The Videogame (mobygames.com/game/212221/bluey-the-videogame)

4: Joel Valentin asks, what is something you thought only existed in video games until you were made aware of it in real life? (31:22)

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

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The Simpsons (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons)

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Super Mario series (mobygames.com/group/10044/super-mario-series)

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Don Quijote (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Quijote_(store))

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Yakuza series (mobygames.com/group/8208/ryu-ga-gotoku-like-a-…)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ifrit

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva

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Sid Meier’s Civilization series (mobygames.com/group/22/sid-meiers-civilization…)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CalorieMate

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

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La Li Lu Le Lo (metalgear.fandom.com/wiki/The_Patriots)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocarina

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echidna

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sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Knuckles_the_Echidna

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog

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sonic.fandom.com/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuckTales_(2017_TV_series)

• Hollywood Reporter: Disney+ Revives Darkwing Duck (hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/darkwing-duck…)

5: Brandon Sheffield asks, design a game for a dog (36:34)

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Stella, the dog that “talks” (youtube.com/watch?v=MTHktun5vKc)

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NOVA | Can Dogs Talk? (pbs.org/video/can-dogs-talk-4dhge4)

6: What is the printing a Magic card so imbalanced it has to be immediately banned from tournament play of video games? (40:23)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akuma_(Street_Fighter)

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Super Street Fighter II Turbo (mobygames.com/game/1159/super-street-fighter-i…)

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League of Legends (mobygames.com/game/43647/league-of-legends)

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Counter-Strike series (mobygames.com/group/5823/counter-strike-series)

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Tekken series (mobygames.com/group/458/tekken-franchise)

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Pokemon series (mobygames.com/group/8656/pokemon-main-rpg-series)

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bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Mewtwo_(Pok%C3…)

• Kotaku: NES Tetris Players Call It ‘Rolling,’ And They’re Setting New World Records (kotaku.com/nes-tetris-players-call-it-rolling-…)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf

• Business Insider: They’re Probably Going To Ban The Putting Technique That Just Won The Masters (businessinsider.com/theyre-going-to-ban-the-pu…)

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulslike

LIGHTNING ROUND: Planes Talkers (46:01)

Recommendations and Outro (01:07:58):

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Frank: The Digital Archive at VGHF Library (archive.gamehistory.org)

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Shivam: Sanjay Patel’s Ramayana (chroniclebooks.com/products/ramayana) and simonandschuster.com/books/Mahabharata/Sanjay-…

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Ash: Squeakross: Home Squeak Home …