Ep. 374 - Cage Rage Gauge, with Aaron Stewart-Ahn

Screenwriter Aaron Stewart-Ahn joins a panel guest hosted by Esper to cover the current definition of “good graphics,� Nicholas Cage’s sublime beauty, and seeing Attack of the Clones on acid.

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SHOW NOTES:

• Fenrir
• Light Cycle
• Tron (1982)
• Kingdom Hearts II
• Tron
• Honda Motocompo
• Shadows of the Damned
• Mandy (2018)
• Yaiba Kusanagi CT-3X
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Keanu Reeves
• Arch Motorcycle
• Alex Winter
• Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
• Gran Turismo
• Polyphony Digital
• Tourist Trophy: The Real Riding Simulator
• Road Rash
• Sega Saturn
• Sony Playstation
• 3DO
• Full Throttle

1: Where are your favorite places to hang out in open world video games? (06:20)

• Throne and Liberty
• Fallout 76
• The First Descendant
• World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade
• Honor Hold
• Arator the Redeemer
• Final Fantasy XIV Online
• RyÅ« ga Gotoku / Like a Dragon / Yakuza universe
• Boyhood (2014)
• KamurochÅ�
• Shenmue
• Slitterhead

2: When is it most obvious that zero research went into a particular video game scene? (15:15)

• Starfield
• Astral Lounge
• Mass Effect series
• GoldenEye 007
• Far Cry series
• Motor Toon Grand Prix

3: Design a video game where the main hero is played by Nicolas Cage. (20:54)

• Nicholas Cage
• Superman 64
• Dead By Daylight
• Leon Kennedy
• Leatherface
• Tekken series
• Stanislavski’s system
• Mortal Kombat series
• Avery Brooks
• Shun Di
• Virtua Fighter series
• John Barrymore
• Charlie Chaplin
• Buster Keaton
• Akuma
• M. Bison

4: Design a video game where the main villain is played by Nicolas Cage. (25:16)

• Pig (2021)
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
• Death Stranding 2 On The Beach
• Hideo Kojima
• Dan Brown
• Weezer
• Cats (2019)
• Megalopolis (2024)
• Kendrick Lamar
• Shroud of Turin
• Robert De Niro
• The Devil’s Advocate (1997)
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
• Legend (1985)
• Tim Curry
• Constantine (2005)

5: Spencer asks, what are games biggest strengths as a medium? (30:56)

• Street Fighter (1994)
• Watchmen
• Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny
• Indika
• ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 4’ Gets 2027 Release Date
• Call of Duty series
• Half-Life 2

6: What do “good graphics� mean in 2025? (38:11)

• Super Scaler
• Indika
• Final Fantasy X
• Final Fantasy XV
• OutRun
• Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)

7: What is the Decemberists of video games? (44:46)

• The Decemberists
• Colin Meloy
• Shrek 2 (2004)
• Shoryuken
• The Matrix (1999)
• The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
• Dark Souls series
• Bloodborne
• Fleetwood Mac
• Kate Bush
• King’s Field
• Devil May Cry series

LIGHTNING ROUND: Name Design – Czech New Wave Classics (49:37)

Credit Report (57:01)

Recommendations and Outro (57:24):

• Ash: Dynasty Warriors: Origins, Three Kingdoms
• Brandon: And Give My Love to the Swallows (1972), Kin-dza-dza! (1986), exercise
• Aaron: Rejection

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