The Insert Credit Show

Our heroes share thoughts on twenty years of achievements, developers responding to player feedback, and whether nail bats count as blunt weapons.

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

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Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

SHOW NOTES:

Busby Berkeley

Bubsy

Fatty Arbuckle

“You’re like free pizza at an anime convention. She can smell you. And she wants to consume you.”

Video Game History Foundation

1: When has the appeal of a popular game eluded you? (05:24)

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream

Mad Libs

The Sims series

Hank Hill

Bocchi

Cards Against Humanity

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Crimson Desert

World of WarCraft

Final Fantasy XIV

Yakuza series

Shenmue series

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Credit Report (11:40)

Sega

Taito

The Ninja Kids

Raz Karcy

OverBlood

Discord

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

2: How have trophies and achievements impacted video games over the past 20 years? (13:39)

Xbox 360

SiegfriedX

Left 4 Dead

3: Let’s talk about that MindsEye DLC (20:21)

MindsEye

Polygon: I played the MindsEye DLC that was supposed to expose ‘sabotage’ and just got a painfully bad mission

Tommy Wiseau

The Room (2003)

Grand Theft Auto series

The Fall of Communism as Seen in Gay Pornography (1998)

4: Give me your dream video game blunt rotation (which is to say, three items to cycle through as blunt weapons in a video game) (25:31)

Nail Bat

Mace

Ice cream sandwich

EarthBound

R.B.I. Baseball series

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Wedge of Destiny

Undercover Cops

The Boon of the Spoon

5: Issac asks, what makes a good sick game? (32:47)

The Violence Island Gacha Gauntlet #1

Titanium Court

Bejeweled

Puzzle Quest

The Talos Principle

Portal

Dragon Quest series

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

NieR

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Chutes and Ladders

Ys series

For the Frog the Bell Tolls

Cookie’s Bustle

6: To what extent should a studio consider the feedback of their playerbase, and when should they ignore it? (39:34)

BioWare

Elden Ring

Game Developer Magazine

Telltale Games

Sam & Max

Downwell

Overwatch

7: What is the realizing you’ve been to a restaurant too many times because the workers know who you are by sight of video games? (44:51)

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Bonk’s Revenge

Paradise Killer

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

LIGHTNING ROUND: Circle K Corral (51:11)

Recommendations and Outro (59:34):

Brandon: Def By Temptation (1990), Ooh Rap I Ya

Ash: Actually don’t watch For All Mankind, Titanium Court, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty

Frank: Eat a ton of shredded cabbage

This week’s episode art was done by Gilbert Smith. Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

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Your Insert Credit Panel discusses the future of Xbox, the difference between dad games and mom games, and weird little guys. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

SHOW NOTES:

KEXP

Italian AOC

“This wild aura, man. Can’t let this go.”

Falsetto

1: When are you convinced to go back to a particular game after putting it down? (02:51)

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare

Cronos: The New Dawn

Red Dead Redemption II

Deadwood

Sega Genesis

Sony PlayStation

World of WarCraft

Quest 64

Quest 64 Official

The Ooze

barleybap

2: Through video game history, how has the job of level designer evolved? (07:44)

TUME

Disney’s Aladdin

Hirokazu Yasuhara

Sonic the Hedgehog series

Uncharted series

Titanfall 2

Iwata Asks

Legend of Zelda series

Shigeru Miyamoto

Takashi Tezuka

3: What are the differences between a dad game and a mom game? (12:59)

Pragmata

Cooking Mama

Bayonetta

Amnesia: Rebirth

Super Metroid

NieR

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…

Stardew Valley

The Sims

Black & White

Peter Molyneux

You know it’s bad for AI when even Peter Molyneux, king of overpromising, is tepid on its use in game dev

Grateful Dead

Black Sabbath

4: Design a video game trilogy intended to grow up with the player base (19:39)

Pokemon series

Palworld

Mewgenics!

Final Fantasy XII

Master Chief

Game Freak

NFT

5: Death_Strandicoot asks, is Xbox a third party now? Is there still a Big 3? (28:01)

Halo: Campaign Evolved launches on PS5

‘We Are Xbox’: read the memo defining Microsoft’s gaming future

Developers, developers, developers

Nintendo

Sony

Roblox

Epic

Fortnite

Circana

List of largest video game companies by revenue

6: What are some new ways to torture players in masocore games? (33:42)

Masocore

Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy

QWOP

Dark Souls

Minecraft

Marvel Rivals

Jackass

Virtual Boy

Speedrunning

7: What is the McDonald’s Sprite of video games? (38:42)

McDonalds

Sprite

Steam Deck

LIGHTNING ROUND: GameFAQ&As - Roblox Mobile (43:51)

Recommendations and Outro (49:51):

Frank: apply for Video Game History Foundation’s Charity Development Coordinator if you meet the qualifications

Ash: For All Mankind

Brandon: Boogiepop Phantom, Ikarie XB-1 (1963), Baby Steps Developers React to 7 Minute Speedrun

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

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The panel reviews Cookie’s Bustle, a Japanese PC adventure game hindered by endless copyright strikes and finally freed by the Video Game History Foundation.

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

Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

SHOW NOTES:

Yoko Kanno

Cowboy Bebop

The Real Folk Blues

Vincent Diamante

Alto saxophone

The Offspring

Phil Collins

Wet Leg

Wednesday

The Weeknd

Taking Back Sunday

Wednesday Campanella

Cookie’s Bustle

Streisand Effect

1: How did we get here? (05:53)

Rodik, Inc

ClassicsOfGame

Video Game History Foundation

Games That Weren’t

Moon Child

The Video Game History Hour

2: How hard is it to get this Japanese abandonware game from 1999 running on your PC in 2026? (11:38)

Sega Genesis

QuickTime

3: What is happening in Cookie’s Bustle and what are you doing in it? (18:18)

sebmal

Mr. Bean

James Bond

Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures

Lara Croft

4: Apart from financial cost, what are the material advantages of keeping a development team small? (36:43)

Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

5: Chopemon asks: If you were to go on an adventure, what items have video games taught you to take that you wouldn’t normally think to take? (43:26)

6: Developer Keisuke Harigai once said in a 2001 interview that he designed Cookie’s Bustle with the European market in mind. What do you think that means? (49:51)

Keisuke Harigai

New Jersey

LucasArts

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord

Grim Fandango

Euro Truck Simulator series

Farming Simulator series

Football Manager series

Total War series

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Atomic Heart

Disco Elysium

7: Do you like Cookie’s Bustle? (56:07)

Tony Hawk series

Mario Party series

Gold Saucer

Mr. Bones

Bennett Foddy

GDC

Penn & Teller’s Smoke and Mirrors

Alter Ego

SimTunes

CD-ROM

Myst

Wii Fit

MobyGames

To-Gen-Kiko

8: Let’s talk about the mystique of inaccessible games (01:04:24)

Fushigi Yûgi

Atari

Atomiswave

Dreamcast

QAnon

George Lucas

LIGHTNING ROUND: Recommendations (01:15:56)

Brandon: Moon Child

Frank: The Cookie’s Bustle collection at the Video Game History Foundation

Ash: Pizza

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

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Writer, Musician, and Experimental Games Workshop Organizer Liz Ryerson takes on GDC 2026’s expo hall and buttered cocoa with the help of Ty Underwood, Kory, and many more. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

Segments:

1: Mar 9 at 1-17 PM - in the park (00:14)

2: Mar 11 at 1-05 PM - game changer (03:51)

3: Mar 11 at 3-21 PM - overheard at GDC (08:45)

4: Mar 12 at 4-01 PM - GDC expo floor (10:10)

5: Mar 16 at 5-14 PM - rambly sick after show reflections (01:20:20)

Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

Insert Credit Gaiden is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

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Writer and Game Developer Mathew Kumar joins an episode hosted by Esper Quinn, covering live service games, personalized Silent Hills, and the Kentucky Loan Ranger.

Hosted by Esper Quinn, with Frank Cifaldi, Brandon Sheffield, and Mathew Kumar. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

Watch episodes with full video on YouTube

Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

SHOW NOTES:

Sensible Soccer: European Champions

ZX Spectrum

Batman

“All I need are tasty waves, and total carnage.”

Captain Planet

PC Engine

1: What would it take to get you into a live service game today? (03:57)

Marathon

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Fortnite

Steam Deck

PSP

Helldivers II

Left 4 Dead

2: Has a video game ever led to you taking up a non-video game hobby? (10:56)

Death Stranding

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series

BioShock Infinite

Sonic the Hedgehog series

Magic: the Gathering

Crimson Desert

Pokémon Pokopia

PowerWash Simulator

Wanderstop

Ivy Road Closes its Doors

Demonschool

3: Brandon Sheffield asks, have you ever found a piece of media you didn’t realize was based on a video game, then played the video game? (17:24)

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)

Gnosia (anime)

Gnosia

Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm

Mortal Kombat series

Street Fighter (1994)

Street Fighter series

Pac-Man cartoon

Pac-Man

The Crow (1994)

Worlds of Power

Pokemon series

Dennō Senshi Porygon

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

Super Mario Galaxy

4: If you had access to the most advanced 3D graphics rendering capabilities available today, what would you make? (24:19)

Cyberpunk 2077

Afrika

Yakuza series

5: Alex Jaffe asks, what would your Silent Hill be like? (30:20)

Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill f

Silent Hill

Pyramid Head

Winnie The Poohing

Hudson News

6: What’s the most work you ever put into a video game doing something that wasn’t explicitly encouraged by the game? (37:00)

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Game Developer Magazine

Crysis 2

P.T.

Resident Evil 4

Bubbles

Defender

Exile: Wicked Phenomenon

Castlevania series

7: What is the anime waifu car wrap of video games? (47:05)

Gran Turismo 7

NicoMaki

Xbox 360

The iDOLM@STER series

PSM

Magic Knight Rayearth

Triforce

Nintendo DS

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

LIGHTNING ROUND: Name Design - Magic Cards, Odyssey Block Edition (51:05)

Acceptable Losses

Cunning Wish

Basking Rootwalla (not a real animal, but based on the real Chuckwalla)

Faceless Butcher

Gallantry

Hunting Grounds

Bamboozle

Recommendations and Outro (58:32):

Brandon: Skip Tracer (1977)

Mathew: Backyard Bloodbaths

Frank: Thunderbean

Esper: Blippo+

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!