King of the Shill

We're back and shilling up a storm! This time, Scott has some indie games he wants to show Chris with a specific goal - to directly shit on several big AAA titles he dislikes by showing how several smaller games do what they try to do, but better. First, we're taking a look at Undertale - this indie game blew up a few years ago and created a whole community with its own meme culture. Scott is going to show Chris how Undertale absolutely outclasses Naughty Dog's "The Last of Us 2" on its core theme.

And we're back! Today we get back into the swing of recording by talking a bit (a lot) about Elden Ring, and some of the things we've been up to on our "break." We will be airing new shills starting next week!

Chris had his baby, so our schedule is going to be a bit weird for a bit. We're not dead though! Somehow. Today we just met up to talk for a bit about some stuff we've been up to, including the spookiest game Scott has ever played. You're not going to guess what it is.

Minisode! This week, the guys sit down to have a chat about some of the stuff they've been up to recently. For Scott, that was a sanity-eroding journey down the X-Files rabbit hole, and for Chris, that's been experiencing the Bayonetta series for the first time. We also played some Splitgate, a shooting game made for boomers! Hopefully Scott can finish his X-Files run without doing anything drastic!

AEW is going All Out! We conclude the incredible Wrestling Arc with Scott's first ever Wrestling Pay Per View - and our first in-person recording session. We get together before the show to talk about our expectations, and then bring everything to a close with a review of the Pay Per View and a discussion about the Wrestling experience overall. Will Scott be shilled? Probably.

We worked our shoots and shot our works and it's finally time to bring the Wrestling Arc to a close! But, we've saved the best part for last. This week, we take a look at Chris's current wrestling obsession - All Elite Wrestling - and two of his favorite matches in preparation for our dramatic conclusion at the live watch party of AEW - All Out. Will AEW live up to the hype Chris has built for it? Will Scott be shilled on Wrestling? Tune in to our 2-part conclusion of the Wrestling arc to find out!

Welcome back to Arkham Horror! We're on part 3 of the Dream-Eaters campaign, and today's episode is a doozy. Not in the good way, either! This episode features one of the most brutal missions we've ever encountered in Arkham Horror, and that's saying a lot. We break down our experience and talk about our impressions of the campaign so far, and how it compares to our favorite moments.

In what is undoubtedly the main event, title match, hell in a cell, royal rumble of the wrestling arc; this week the guys check out of of the most legendary moments of modern professional wrestling. We start with CM Punk and his "pipe bomb" and finish with what is certainly one of the most explosive wrestling matches of all time. After all of this work, will Scott finally start to "get" wrestling? Will Chris let Scott slap him really hard in the sternum a few times to see how it feels? Tune in and find out. We watched the following content: War of the Worlds 2014: Kevin Steen vs Shinsuke Nakamura @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdEHlf29YBA Money in the Bank 2011: CM Punk vs John Cena - 1:58:00 (available on Peacock) Okada vs Omega @ Dominion 6.9.2018 (available on New Japan World)

It's time for more Arkham Horror! The guys move on to part 2 of their Dream-Eaters campaign, taking on the roles of 2 new investigators who will be getting up to shenanigans in the real world while their other team explore weird Cthulhu dreamland stuff. Also, we get really mad about tentacles again. Come and listen to us suffer! We went a bit overboard with the skits this time. The show itself starts at 7:23. We also end on a skit, so, sorry about that.

Another week, another extended session of muscle man theater! This week Chris is really excited to show Scott what "real wrasslin" is all about with a deep dive into some of his favorite matches. We learn all about the art form in the ring, and walk through some legendary fights to see what it takes to pay off the fans' expectations. Plus it's just cool to see a bunch of dudes get walloped for an hour in the ring. At the end of all of this I'm going to give Chris an armbar to see if it really works. We watched the following content, timestamped (available on Peacock!): Randy Savage vs Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat @ Wrestlemania 3 [1:41:00] Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels @ Wrestlemania 12 [1:25:00] Rey Mysterio Jr vs Eddie Gurrero @ Halloween Havoc 97 [00:28:42] Cruiserweight Battle Royale / Ciclope vs Chris Jericho @ Slamboree 98 [00:34:04]

We're taking a break from the wrestling arc to talk about some more topical things. Scott played through Psychonauts in a single day like a total degenerate, and now he's trying to vomit all of those emotions on to Chris. Psychonauts 2 releases this month! Hope it doesn't suck! We also both watched James Gunn's "The Suicide Squad" and took some time to talk about it, and ask ourselves why every other DC movie sucks so bad. Will DC ever be good again? Will comic books? Probably not.

It's the Wrestling Arc, because we said so! Chris continues to excitedly froth at the mouth and talk about wrestling, whether Scott is ready or not. For the second part of our first week of wrasslin', we talk about Stone Cold Steve Austin, the legendary beer guzzlin', stunner-in', eff-you-attitude rockin' king himself. We focus more on the storytelling of the wrestling itself this week, with a look at Steve's beginnings as a savage heel, his amazing match with Bret Hart, and his feud and title match against the Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels and D-Generation X, with a celebrity shot from Iron Mike Tyson. Give us a hell yea! We watched the following content, timestamped (available on Peacock!): King of the Ring 1996 (1:51:00) Wrestlemania 13 (1:18:00) Monday Night RAWs: Jan 19, 1998 (1:22:00) Feb 2, 1998 (Opening Segment & 1:26:00) March 2, 1998 (44:00) Wrestlemania 14 (2:08:00)

IT'S THE WRASSLIN' ARC, BROTHER! It's finally time. Chris finally gets to talk about wrestling - but this time fully clothed. Our first episode focuses on WCW, the Outsiders, and the formation of the nWo - all designed to introduce Scott to "the moment" - that magical moment when all of the promos, the smack talk, and the wrestling combine into one sublime payoff. Our dynamic podcasting duo work a shoot with some real ring psychology and some jiggery-pokery mixed in. These are all words Chris keeps saying to me and I can't figure any of them out, please send help. We watched the following content, timestamped (available on Peacock!): WCW Nitros: May 27th, 1996 (24:22 / 1:30:00) June 3rd, 1996 (1:29:00) June 10th, 1996 (1:26:30) June 17th, 1996 (1:29:00) June 24th, 1996 (Opening Segment) Bash at the Beach 1996 (2:11:00)

While we're working on the first episode of the Wrestling Arc, we take a quick break to start a new campaign of the Arkham Horror Living Card Game - a personal favorite tabletop game of the Manyfolds. Join us as we talk a bit about this game, what makes it great, and why you should check it out if you're into horror.

The time has come for the entire reason Chris even agreed to do this show to premiere! If Star Trek: TNG is Scott's grail, then Professional Wrestling belongs to Chris. Today, he introduces the wrestling arc: a series of Shill episodes centered around the undying love and admiration of this historic art form. The boys review the schedule and plan for the wrestling arc episodes, as well as drill down on exactly how much Scott already knows. General buffoonery and bad takes included. Don't delay, tune in today!

The boys are back after some vacation and wound-licking, better late than never! We're catching up ahead of our next shill and Scott's been jamming Monster Hunter: Stories - an adaptation of Monster Hunter to a turn based style game. Chris gets poked in the eye and can't see.

This week the guys watched one of the most bizarre docuseries we've ever seen: 2021's Sasquatch, from the legendary David Holthouse. And we we say legendary, we man: boy, this dude is an absolute legend. Sasquatch starts with a simple, relatable premise: Did a Sasquatch murder 3 men on a California Marijuana farm in 1993? Yes, that is the actual premise, and it only gets weirder from there. David Holthouse takes us on an amazing (and very dark) journey to get to the bottom of a personal story he's been wondering about for decades, and you're along for the ride. This is a one-part episode with a break - you can either watch Sasquatch ahead of time, during the break, or afterwards. Heck, you don't have to watch it at all - we don't care - but you really should.

Sometimes you just want to watch a movie with your friends. Sometimes, when you watch that movie, you get exactly what you expected and everyone has a great time. This isn't one of those times. Today the guys watched Blowout, a 1981 film by Brian De Palma featuring John Travolta, among others. Chris wanted to watch it because lots of famous directors like Quentin Tarantino (fancy) really like it. What a nerd. Tune in to find out what we thought of it, and if we recommend it! Spoiler alert: It was pretty weird, and as for if we recommend it, that's complicated! That's the wishy washy attitude we aim for, baby!

And we're back! Scott has finally talked about One Piece with another human being. Will he finally shut up about it? Has Chris finally been seduced by the dark side? Only time, and this podcast, may tell. We hope you enjoyed the anime arc as much as we did!

The end of the anime arc! Scott has worked tirelessly to convince Chris to become a weeb. Has it worked? Will Chris finally give in to anime? This week, we're checking out One Piece, Scott's most favoritist manga of all time. Unlike our previous episodes, this isn't some kind of high art piece - it's just a rip roaring good time. What a great way to end the anime arc! We're all having a great time here! Listen - we don't have much time. Scott is going to inevitably check this copy and see this message. Please send help. He won't stop talking about One Piece and it's starting to scare me. -Chris

It's a review... kind of! We are hard at work reading One Piece (wow, that's taking a lot longer than I expected) and in the meantime we decided to talk about a board game we've really been enjoying recently called Black Orchestra. In this game, you play as German citizens and Nazis plotting to assassinate Hitler at the height of WW2. We play a round to refresh ourselves, grab some CONTENT (TM) and sit down to hash out our thoughts on it. King of the Shill highly recommends Black Orchestra. Find out more about Black Orchestra at: https://www.starling.games/black-orchestra

With the upcoming release of Guilty Gear: Strive looming over our heads, we decide to gush about some of our favorite fighting game character designs. From zoners to grapplers (paint eating scum), from waifus to husbandos, it's hard to argue against the idea that fighting games have some of the best character design in the industry. The art, the gameplay, the music - they help create a player identity that may be the most important part of the genre - look at the wild popularity of the character reveals for top titles like Smash Bros, Mortal Kombat, etc. and you'll get an idea. What are some of your favorite fighting game characters? I'd say to leave a comment, but this is an audio podcast primarily released on platforms that don't support comments. Can't say I'm sad about that. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are some clips of some of the characters we talked about. Fino playing VENOM from Guilty Gear Xrd: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q---XOZBhdk PepperySplash with a legendary Venom set at Combo Breaker: https://youtu.be/T0cNVMMI_Vc Lost Soul with an amazing Jack-O set at DTN 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvIQSqEj0qw The best Chun-Li costume in action from Street Fighter Alpha: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2c5tYMnt1k Sub-Zero vs Liu Kang (from the original movie): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEElB5UTv-4 Sonic Fox goes 13-0 in first to 10 with Perfect Legend (Kitana and Erron Black vs. Kung-Lao): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2i--tikO9w

The anime arc reaches its climax! Today, we're looking at one of Scott's favorite shows: Evangelion, which is about as stirring and bold of an opinion as "Vanilla is a good flavor." This show is pretty much tailor-made for someone like Chris, and in this shill, we're going to make him understand why. We'll also talk about really weird and meta topics like Subs versus Dubs, and marketing! Fun! Be not afraid!

We recover from our anime climax and wipe our hands to talk about Eva. Was it all it's cracked up to be? It was, and we need to talk about it. Topics include: Best girl, pretty colors, nice animation, cool music, and man angels and shit are pretty rad. Seems like this anime thing is turning out pretty well, yah? Oh you betcha - Chris

They say it takes a Resident Evil Village to raise a child, and in this minisode, we hope to prove it. We talk about the newly released Resident Evil 8, what we thought about it, and then completely forget about it as we talk about an extremely old online Resident Evil game from the PS2 era - Outbreak - that we've been playing with friends recently. We also allowed Chris to talk about DMC5 again at length, so be warned. Honestly I just really like that game. - Chris

We return from our viewing party of Perfect Blue battered, confused, and forever changed. Not because of anything to do with the movie, mind you, just in general. We break down our thoughts after watching Perfect Blue and talk about concepts that are way too smart for us - while nerding out about how cool the movie was. Then we check in with Chris to see if the Anime arc is working - and if it is, he's already losing his grip on reality too...

The anime arc continues! This time, Scott wants to show Chris something more "Art History Student." What a nerd! On this episode, we're taking a look at Satoshi Kon's "Perfect Blue" - a psychological thriller. We'll ask ourselves questions such as: "Why do people get so creepily obsessed with things?" "What does it mean to lose your sanity?" and "Why DOES the birthrate keep falling in Japan?" Tune in as we answer none of these questions in any meaningful way.

This week, our hosts finally discuss something other than TV or video games, implying they may have actually been outdoors once in their lives. In this pandemic hell world, thank the lord for the internet, where we can watch people humiliate weirdos by debunking them publically, and fantasize about travelling farther than a few miles from our houses for a change.

We kick off the anime arc with an unusual entry - Yakuza 0, a 2017 action game from Sega. Scott tries to impart one of life's most important lessons: that a little bit of "anime" can be found just about anywhere, if you're looking for it. We talk about why crime is cool, why Yakuza are cool, and what exactly "anime" is. Chris was hilariously bad at the mini-games, you guys. I wish we recorded it. The goal of the anime arc is to get Chris into anime and the anime subculture by introducing him to a variety of media that challenges what he might think about anime as a normal, respectable person. Footage of the parts we played (credit to Santosx07 and CKB on Youtube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdZD99zGV3U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPO_6Eqr9RE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7iy58M-6ws https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFN5BYFu4oQ

Another week, another minisode. This time, the guys talk a bit about the upcoming Dark Alliance game, and what makes a good Left 4 Dead-like co-op game. Later, Scott breaks the bad news to Chris... for the next few episodes, he's getting an introductory course to anime, whether he likes it or not. He will, by the way. He's contractually obligated to.

After returning from their watch party of Mrs. Maisel, the boys have a long, hard think about things like nostalgia for a time in which we never really lived, past lives, the implications of the nuclear family on American culture, and why cruises suck so bad. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is available for streaming on Amazon Prime - we reviewed the following Episodes: S1E1 - "Pilot" S1E4 - "The Disappointment of the Dionne Quintuplets" S1E8 - "Thank You and Good Night" S2E4 - "We're Going to the Catskills!" S3E4 - "Hands!"

After being unceremoniously booed offstage, the boys sit down to discuss one of Chris's new favorite shows, the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. How hard can breaking into comedy really be considering some of the stuff that ends up on Netflix? Clearly not that hard. Also, I know a thing or two about being a housewife in 1950s America, so I don't think this show is going to be much of a surprise to me. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is available for streaming on Amazon Prime - we reviewed the following Episodes: S1E1 - "Pilot" S1E4 - "The Disappointment of the Dionne Quintuplets" S1E8 - "Thank You and Good Night" S2E4 - "We're Going to the Catskills!" S3E4 - "Hands!"

In this episode, Chris and Scott talk about Outriders and what makes a looter-shooter hit or miss, why game developers insist on missing the simplest things with new games (Guilty Gear Strive), and the reactions fans have to properties changing so drastically that they're not recognizable anymore (Star Trek).

The guys talk about how consuming media has changed with rise of the internet, and also talk about licensed video games, movies, and books. Why are so many of them so bad? Is there actually even one good video game movie? Why did they model Pierce Brosnan with such a creepy amount of detail in James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing? Will we ever get a remake of Jurassic Park for the Sega Genesis? NORMAL CREATURES (SIKES): https://normalcreatures.bandcamp.com/ GManLives "Reviewing Every James Bond FPS": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsBsxHSVtZA

In our second Shill, we take a look at Scott's favorite rapper - MF DOOM. Scott is pretty stupid when it comes to music, and Chris isn't really into rap, so this is definitely going to end well. This episode is guaranteed to teach you basically nothing about music. In this episode we're listening to: The album Operation: Doomsday by MF DOOM The album Madvillainy by Madvillain The tracks "Beef Rap," "One Beer," and Rap Snitch Knishes from the album MM..FOOD by MF DOOM The single "Peach Fuzz" by KMD

We return from our MF DOOM listening party to see if anything Scott tried to explain to Chris about MF DOOM in our last episode made any sense - and whether or not Chris liked what he's heard. Come listen to us struggle to coherently explain abstract opinions like "Song Good." Whatever happened to Scott's body double, by the way? In this episode we listened to: The album Operation: Doomsday by MF DOOM The album Madvillainy by Madvillain The tracks "Beef Rap," "One Beer," and "Rap Snitch Knishes" from the album MM..FOOD by MF DOOM The single "Peach Fuzz" by KMD

Scott waxes philosophically about Bravely Default 2, the boys briefly touch on the new Tekken DLC, and Chris wants you to carefully watch the Snyder Cut.....maybe. Here's a dope combo video for the new Tekken 7 character, Lidia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVTSAw0Ts38

The first Minisode kicks off with almost no applause as Chris puts over Metro: Exodus and Scott tells us the tale of two JRPGs, Persona 5 and Xenoblade Chronicles. You'll really be feelin' this one.

Scooby-Doo and the gang regroup to talk about the clues they found in their watch party aboard the USS Enterprise-D. In case you missed it, here are the episodes they watched: S2E9 - The Measure of a Man S3E26 - The Best of Both Worlds Pt 1 S4E1 - The Best of Both Worlds Pt 2 S4E2 - Family S5E23 - I Borg S4E17 - Night Terrors Stay tuned for hot immaculate conception action.

Boldly go where no one has gone before....listening to a Star Trek conversation where the two hosts collectively weigh under 500 lbs. Can you believe this? Chris has never seen TNG. We christen this podcast with a bottle of Champagne du Picard Foreheadsweat! Scott shills Chris on Star Trek: The Next Generation, using the following episodes: S2E9 - The Measure of a Man S3E26 - The Best of Both Worlds Pt 1 S4E1 - The Best of Both Worlds Pt 2 S4E2 - Family S5E23 - I Borg S4E17 - Night Terrors Words from Gene Roddenberry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEyLtiKuroA

In this episode, we kick off The ManyFolds Cinematic Universe ("MCU") with the protagonists' individual Origin stories. Which is to say, this is the first episode of our new podcast, King of the Shill (bad idea). King of the Shill is a conversational podcast where hosts Scott and Chris attempt to "shill" each other on a wide variety of things they like and force you to listen (bad idea). Just who will be crowned KING of the Shill? Listen......and find out. And if you don't care, please listen anyways. Thx