Kotaku Splitscreen

Maddy and Kirk talk about what they're playing; in Maddy's case, that involves a brand new gaming monitor that makes Outer Wilds look so, so good. She's also playing Madden NFL 20. Meanwhile, Kirk beat Death of the Outsider, started up Wolfenstein: Youngblood and Fire Emblem, and tried Burgle Bros with his tabletop group. We then bring in Kotaku senior reporter Cecilia D'Anastasio (35:06) for discussion about her article, "For Men Who Hate Talking On The Phone, Games Keep Friendships Alive," and also, the importance of gaming etiquette, especially for competitive games. We close out with off-topic discussion (1:11:32) about Veronica Mars... again.Music pick of the week: “What A Wonderful World” by Sam Cooke

Episode 180: We've gotten so many interesting listener e-mails about privacy in gaming, we just had to keep talking about it! First, the Splitscreen gang talks about some of the games they're playing including Phoenix Wright, Rage 2, and Destiny. Then they get into the news of the week (28:18) on Minecraft Earth, the God of War documentary, and a major shakeup in Call of Duty-land.After the news, Kirk, Maddy, and Jason read some listener emails and talk more about advertisers using our data, targeted marketing, and whether the internet is just broken or what. Then it's time for off-topic talk (1:11:55) on Designated Survivor, Lemony Snicket, and much more.Music pick of the week: “Ageless Beauty” by Stars from their 2004 album Set Yourself On Fire

Scott Benson and Bethany Hockenberry, two members of the team that made Night In The Woods, are now part of a games studio without any bosses. It's a worker co-op called The Glory Society, and at GDC 2019, Scott and Bethany dropped by the podcast to explain why they prefer bylaws to bosses. In the second half of the episode, longtime Splitscreen guest Matthew Burns came by to talk about his new visual novel about artificial intelligence and also, how cool he thinks SpeedTree is.

This is it -- after four and a half years and over 300 episodes, the hosts of Kotaku Splitscreen are saying goodbye. The good news? Kirk, Jason, and Maddy are starting a brand new video game podcast that you'll be able to find on their Twitter feeds as soon as this goes live.Join us for one final episode to reminisce about Kotaku Splitscreen and even talk about some video games.

Episode 225: Kirk, Jason, and Maddy catch up on some Half-Life Alyx and Persona 5, then dive into Final Fantasy VII Remake (20:50), a wonderful game that the Splitscreen crew still has trouble believing is real. They close things out by talking The Wire, Star Trek Picard, and Community (58:16).Music pick of the week: John Prine - Spanish Pipedream from John Prine, 1971

Episode 224: Kirk, Maddy, and Jason talk about some games they've been playing, like Half-Life Alyx and Kentucky Route Zero. Then they get into some news on Mario remasters and Gearbox disasters (26:30), followed by some chill Animal Crossing chat and an email from a listener who works in video game certification. Finally: The Wire! (55:07)Music pick of the week: “Think About Things” by Daði Freyr (“Daldi - Freyr”)

Episode 223: Kirk, Jason, and Maddy talk about Persona 5 and Animal Crossing, the cures for everyone's woes, then share some stories from listeners (43:19) about how they're coping with corona. Then they talk about a certain show that Jason's finally watching... (1:09:17)Music pick: “Tropicalia” by Beck from Mutations, 1998Maddy's stream this weekend: https://www.twitch.tv/gamers4bernie

Episode 222: As the coronavirus pandemic upends all of our lives, let Kotaku Splitscreen distract you for a little while with talk of delightful video games. First up, Jason, Kirk, and Maddy talk about Kentucky Route Zero, Persona 5 Royal, and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, then dive into the recent PS5 spec reveal (32:44) and talk about how they're coping with self-isolation. Then it's time for off-topic chat (1:07:25) on The Wire, McMillions, and The Wrecking Crew.Music pick of the week: “Cabin Essence” by Brian Wilson from Smile, 2004

Episode 221: Jason, Maddy, and Kirk talk about their adventures in Nioh 2, Black Mesa, and Persona 5 before taking a deep dive into the cancellation of E3 2020 (43:44), an unprecedented move that comes in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic. What will this mean for the video game industry? Then they get into off-topic (1:05:15) on I Think You Should Leave, Castlevania, and one fantastic episode of Reply All.Music pick of the week: “Blues Stride” by McCoy Tyner from Infinity, 1995

Episode 220: Kirk, Jason, and Maddy talk about Kentucky Route Zero, Baldur's Gate 3, and a bit more Kirby before jumping into a few different topics (24:24) including their gamer personalities, a frustrating VentureBeat article about Quantic Dream, and the much-hyped Final Fantasy VII remake demo, which they have LOTS of thoughts about. Finally, off-topic discussion (1:28:38) on Curb Your Enthusiasm and Bojack Horseman.Music pick of the week: “Get By’ By Talib Kweli from Quality, 2002Links: Quantic Foundry surveys, Jason's thoughts on Final Fantasy VII Remake, CanardPC on QuanticDream, Kirk and Leigh Alexander on Final Fantasy VII

Episode 219: Jason, Kirk, and Maddy talk about Dragon's Dogma, Death Stranding, and Divinity: Original Sin 2 for a while before diving into the game that everyone's playing -- Kirby: Planet Robobot (33:27). Then they talk about how the coronavirus pandemic may impact the video game industry this year in some big ways and discuss whether Trials of Osiris will bring Kirk and Jason back to Destiny 2. Finally, some off-topic chat on Uncut Gems, RoboCop, and Better Call Saul.Music pick of the week: “By Fire” by Hiatus Kaiyote from Choose Your Weapon, 2015Links: "The Universe Has Been Outsourced" - Michael ThomsenApple Music playlist: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/kirks-strong-songs/pl.u-V9D7mXEHJ7o0aSpotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1zRtCq81Z6kXKmGCK0Xm7u?si=2qwuFExCTfCkRFY9d3hUhA

Episode 218: Jason returns to complete the trifecta and take his rightful place as Splitscreen's Triforce of Power... or is it Triforce of Courage? He, Kirk, and Maddy talk about some video games they're playing, including Dragon's Dogma, Death Stranding, and Enter the Gungeon. Then they dive into a Disco Elysium spoilercast (38:31) to talk about the game's guiding ethos, its ending decisions, and what it all means. Finally, it's off-topic talk (1:16:53) about Mythic Quest, the new Apple TV show about video game development, is actually pretty damn good!!!Music pick of the week: D’angelo and the Vanguard - “Ain’t That Easy” from Black Messiah, 2014Links: Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/kirks-strong-songs/pl.u-V9D7mXEHJ7o0aSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1zRtCq81Z6kXKmGCK0Xm7u?si=2qwuFExCTfCkRFY9d3hUhACameron Kunzelman on the end of Disco Elysium: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/v7445x/the-mysterious-magical-end-of-disco-elysium-was-one-of-the-years-best

Episode 217: Kirk and Maddy start by discussing the upcoming "reinvention" of Anthem, then talk about what we're playing, with Kirk having beaten The Evil Within 2 and Maddy playing Death Stranding and Super Metroid. Next we bring on Kotaku senior reporter Nathan Grayson (20:41) to talk about the new Metro Exodus DLC, as well as his recent reporting on Twitch and Mixer and the lucrative deals that streamers have been cutting with platforms. We close with off-topic talk (53:46) about John Wick, Birds of Prey, and Sex Education.Music pick of the week: “Incwadi Encane” by Simmi from her 2018 album Tugela FairyLinks:BioWare Plans A 'Substantial Reinvention' Of AnthemTop Streamers Are Leaving Twitch Amidst Big Money And Shady DealsWhy Twitch Fans Donate Money To Wealthy StreamersMusic Picks Playlists - Apple Music, Spotify

Episode 216: Maddy and Kirk talk about games they're playing, with Maddy having beaten Disco Elysium and returning to Death Stranding, and Kirk having beaten A Plague Tale: Innocence and finally able to start The Evil Within 2. After a break (35:53), we bring on Kotaku video producer Paul Tamayo to talk about his coverage of Journey To The Savage Planet. Then, he tries to sell us on playing Dragon's Dogma (and he's pretty convincing). We close with off-topic discussion (59:51) about The Wire, Dunkirk, Cheer and The Good Place.Music pick of the week: “La Villa Strangiato” by Rush from Hemispheres, 1978Links: Paul Tamayo's Journey To The Savage Planet videoThe Optional podcast (Paul's show)Music Picks Playlists - Apple Music, Spotify

Episode 215: Kirk and Maddy talk about games they're playing, with Kirk still restricting himself to beating A Plague Tale: Innocence before he can start playing The Evil Within 2. Maddy is playing too many games and has decided to start another one, which is Kentucky Route Zero. After a break (22:54), they bring on Kotaku staff writer Ethan Gach for a Destiny 2 update and more emails from listeners about hard-won gaming accomplishments. Then we get into off-topic talk (1:05:16) about The Witcher, Lost In Space, Joker, and Uncut Gems.Music pick of the week: Timnit Welday, “Weni” - New Ethiopian Tigrigna (tee-greena) music (via YouTube)Links:Henry Cavill breaks down The Witcher fightMusic Picks Playlists - Apple Music, Spotify

Episode 214: Maddy and Kirk talk about games they're playing (without Jason), with Maddy starting up Pokemon: Shield and Kirk having finally beaten Disco Elysium, as well as continuing with The Witcher 3 and Plague Tale: Innocence. After that (36:52), we read listeners' stories about the hardest challenges they've ever bested in video games. We don't get through all of them, so we're going to keep that up in future episodes. We close out the show with off-topic discussion (1:06:06) about You Must Remember This, Avatar, and Uncut Gems.Music pick of the week: “Migrations” by Chris Potter feat John Scofield from his 2002 album Traveling MerciesLinks:"Game Delays Cause More Crunch" by Jason Schreier The Witcher anime filmMusic Picks Playlists - Apple Music, Spotify

Episode 213: Jason, Kirk, and Maddy talk about Disco Elysium, Hollow Knight, and Monster Hunter: Iceborne before checking in on some quick news (29:00): Sony's skipping E3 and Final Fantasy VII and Avengers are both delayed. Then they open up the listener mailbag for some questions about the hardest things they've ever done in a video game, whether Microsoft will ever turn Xbox into a living room PC, and the games they might hypothetically speedrun. They close things off with some off-topic talk (1:07:00) on James Cameron, Parasite, and the glorious return of Jason's NFL Playoff stories.Music pick of the week: “The Other Side” by Moonchild from their 2019 album Little GhostLinks:Heather Alexandra on speedrunning.Luke Palmer on Snowpiercer and Willy WonkaMusic Picks Playlists - Apple Music, Spotify

Episode 212: Kirk, Jason, and Maddy talk about the games they played over the holidays, like Resident Evil 2, The Witcher 3, and Control, then look back at their predictions for 2019 to see who got the most things right (28:22). Then they make predictions for 2020, a year that will no doubt be full of fun video game nonsense. They close things off with movie talk on Knives Out, Parasite, Little Women, and more (1:10:53).Music pick of the week: “Dream Sweet in Sea Major” by Miracle Musical (ミラクルミュージカル) from the 2012 album Hawaii: Part II(Kirk's playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1zRtCq81Z6kXKmGCK0Xm7u?si=2qwuFExCTfCkRFY9d3hUhA)

Episode 211: Jason, Kirk, and Maddy continue their discussion of the games they played in 2019, capping off the year with July through December.The games: Dragon Quest Builders 2, A Short Hike, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Wolfenstein Youngblood, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, Telling Lies, Grandia HD Collection, Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, Control, Remnant: From The Ashes, Madden NFL 20, Eliza, Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, AI: The Somnium Files, No Man’s Sky: Beyond, Zelda: Link’s Awakening, What The Golf?, Assemble With Care, Spek, Bleak Sword, Grindstone, Ori and the Blind Forest (Switch), Gears 5, Hitman 2: Haven Island, Borderlands 3, Untitled Goose Game, Sayonara Wild Hearts, Destiny 2: Shadowkeep, Disco Elysium, The Outer Worlds, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Ring Fit Adventure, Afterparty, Death Stranding, Guildlings, Romancing Saga 3, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire's Conspiracy (Switch), Star Ocean: First Departure R, Heroland, Shovel Knight: King of Cards, Shovel Kn

Maddy, Jason and Kirk have all seen Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, and guess what? They have some thoughts. Our three hosts—a Force Triad, you could say—sat down and recorded a spoilercast that is nearly as long as the movie itself. Because, you see, these things echo. They rhyme.ADDITIONAL READING:Jason and Chris Kohler's conversation about the movie on Kotaku: https://kotaku.com/well-okay-lets-talk-about-star-wars-the-rise-of-skyw-1840561224Kirk's old article about how The Last Jedi makes The Force Awakens more interesting. (RIP a few of those reasons): https://kotaku.com/star-wars-the-last-jedi-makes-the-force-awakens-much-m-1821721569The Star Wars leaker's version of the story as posted to Reddit, which Jason references a few times during the cast and which differs from the final movie in some interesting ways: https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsLeaks/comments/d5i0ye/the_basic_plot_of_the_rise_of_skywalker_updated/