March 13, 2025 • 46 mins
Dr. Gamology and Marcus dive into the psychology of gaming personas, exploring how the characters we play reflect aspects of our true selves. They share excitement about WWE 2K25's new MMO-style island feature and discuss how professional wrestling storytelling mirrors character development in games.
• WWE 2K25's innovative MMO-style island allowing character progression from indie wrestler to superstar
• The psychology behind John Cena's shocking heel turn and what it means for wrestling storytelling
• Creating meaningful gaming personas that reflect real personality traits
• Experiences with Monster Hunter Wilds as a newcomer versus veteran perspectives
• How weapon and playstyle choices in games reveal personal problem-solving preferences
• Gaming achievements across Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Octopath Traveler 2, and Elden Ring
• The appeal of cozy games like Disney Dreamlight Valley as stress-relief
• Connection between streaming personas and wrestling character development
Join us next week as we continue exploring the fascinating intersection of gaming, identity, and personal growth!
If you would like to support the show and help us unlock additional possibilities for future episodes and projects, this can now be done through Patreon!
You can watch us play games LIVE and join our communities to get more connection from every episode:
- DrGameology on Twitch - Continue the Journey LIVE in 2025!!
- MarcusB814 on YouTube - BOOMBA
Subscribe on YouTube for more content on the Psychology of Gaming or Follow on Twitch to catch the Live Streams!
For more info, check out DrGameology.com!
More Links Here!
Thanks for Listening, and Continue The Journey!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Gaming Persona Podcast.
This is the show that exploreswho we become when we play games
, Whether you're saving kingdoms, leading epic raids or just
vibing in cozy indie worlds.
Join me, Dr Gamology and mygood friend Marcus, as we search
for all the ways gaming andpersonal growth collide.
Grab your controllers and let'scontinue the journey Now.
(00:21):
Continue the journey now.
So, Marcus, I have to go intothe PlayStation Store right now
and pre-order 2K25, because itcomes out in three hours.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Actually, I was actually going to talk to you
about that because they're doingsomething in that game.
But before I even mention thegame, it comes out tomorrow.
I thought it comes out nextweek.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
The pre-order play period starts tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
WWE2K25 release March 14th.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
It says yeah, but the early access for pre-orders is
tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Oh, because if you get the Deadman or the Bloodline
edition, you will get earlyaccess starting on March 7th.
Yes, the Dead man or theBloodline edition, you will get
early access starting on March7th.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yes, I just bought the Bloodline edition Live on
the show.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Wow, See wow.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Nothing's going to keep me away from my tribal
chief, Marcus.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
What do you think of the no beard?
I think it looks great.
I think Marcus, yeah, yeah.
What do you think of the?
Speaker 1 (01:25):
no beard.
I think it looks great.
I think I think that it's acool look for you.
Well, it's different, right?
Yeah, I've only seen it likemaybe four times our entire
friendship.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, want to hear the funny story of it.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Sure yeah, tell us.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
So my kids go to private school and it's a
Catholic school.
And so they came home and it'sEaster for Lent, and they're
like Daddy, what are you givingup for Lent?
And I'm like I eat salad, I eatyogurt, I've given up all the
bad stuff.
I'm like ooh, what am I goingto do?
I'm going to give up my beardfor 40 days.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Wow, I was thinking.
Other alternatives are likebackward facing hats.
You could give that up for 40days.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, but then, yeah, I could do a four.
No, I think the beard is go bigor go home, dude.
They gave up candy, like for me, like for them.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
that's like the world ending yeah you should you
should never promise things thatyou're gonna regret that's
right, so I'm not gonna regretlosing my beard yeah, your face
will feel significantly lessitchy, much more hygienic.
People see your smile and beable to understand your facial
(02:45):
expressions.
There's all kinds of benefitsto this.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yes, but back to this WWE 2K25 thing.
I'm glad you said that, becausethat means I'm going to get it.
Oh, I wonder when you canpre-download it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Oh, I don't know.
I'm going to have to check thatout after we're done recording.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Sure, the thing I wanted to actually talk, talk to
you about and you brought it upand it's like magic is
happening that it comes outtomorrow is they're doing
something new.
Did you see that they're doingthis like mmo style island the
island, yeah, where there'sgoing to be quests, and I'm like
what kind of quests?
And I want to know if is itgoing to be like mortal combat
(03:23):
quests, where you're going towalk up to Jey Uso and be like,
hey, man, I got beef, let'swrestle and then you do a match,
or is it going to be like, hey,you got to go to the gym and go
clean the gym towels becauseyou lost a bet?
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (03:38):
I think it'll have all of that.
Actually it's.
It feels very similar to me aswhat the NBA 2K games try to do
with their neighborhood.
Or you have street games, youhave in the gym games, you have
workouts and drills and youincrease your stat points by
doing different things.
That's what I imagine it'sgoing to be.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yeah, I'm intrigued by that, because so many times I
just don't feel like doing justa match and I think for me as a
casual MMO player, like thatmight get me to hook myself in.
Oh, I can sign in for 20minutes and go do a quest, or is
it that you're like a rookieand you're building yourself up
(04:22):
on this island trying to getnoticed?
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
There's a giant statue slash building that is
shaped like Roman Reigns.
So I think the goal of beingrecognized or being acknowledged
on the island is the main cruxof the story.
If I had to guess, yeah, I'meager to see.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I always am excited for my first match, because when
Ryan and I play, he's alwaysCody Rhodes, like right away,
first character, boom.
And my first character is KevinOwens.
And he says to me tonight, he'sdaddy, when 2K25 comes out, who
(05:05):
are you going to be?
You can't be Kevin Owens.
And he says to me tonight he'sdaddy, when two K 25 comes out,
who are you going to be?
You can't be Kevin Owens.
I said Seth fricking Rollins,pal, he goes, oh that's a good
one.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I saw a really interesting thing on social
media that I didn't have time toprocess, but my head is
spinning Sure on social media.
That I didn't have time toprocess, but my head is spinning
Sure.
And Cody Rhodes had that twomonth feud with Kevin Owens to
close out 2024.
And now he's facing off withJohn Cena, who just turned heel
(05:40):
for the first time in his 23year career.
's the bad guy he joined therock.
You either die a hero or livelong enough to see yourself
become a villain.
Right wait, can we?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
back up if we're gonna do, if we're doing
wrestling, talk, can we like?
Can john?
Can you explain john cena tothe people who aren't wrestling
people?
That's why it's so big that heturned bad.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I will, but.
I want to finish the CodyRhodes point first.
Oh shit, here we go, thepicture of him being hoisted up
on the shoulders of Sami Zaynand Jey Uso from Wrestlemania,
from WrestleMania, from right toleft.
Okay to left, like readingmanga Japanese.
(06:29):
Right to left.
The order is Kevin Owens, johnCena, sami Zayn, jey Uso, randy
Orton.
What if everyone turns on CodyRhodes this year?
And that's the order that hefeuds with them?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
interesting like.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
That's the classic picture.
Cody Rhodes dethroned Romanigns.
Wwe is holding him up.
He's their champion.
We're triumphant.
The good guys won atWrestleMania 40.
But two of those celebratorshave already turned on Cody
(07:17):
Rhodes in the order that they'restanding in in the picture, and
I just feel like WWE sees thatas a storytelling opportunity
that's really interesting, manthat is.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I'm looking at the picture right now so that, yeah,
I that's interesting.
I mean they say paul Triple H,everything is connected and of
course pictures and likeconspiracy theories and all this
stuff, but it feels almost likehe's known all along how far
(07:54):
it's going to go.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
It does feel like that, and that's one of the cool
things about telling your storyweek by week, getting to see
what the reactions are andreflect, and then you write your
next story, right.
But also you have to have amindset that we're not just
throwing random stuff in herebecause we might be able to use
this later.
And I just want to say Triple His doing things on a worldwide
(08:24):
level that I cannot fathom.
But there were times when I waswriting my book where there was
a little bit of that, where Iwould deliberately foreshadow
something only but not fullyexplain it, with the idea that
I'm going to come back in about10 chapters and fully explain
that.
So if I'm having that mindsetwith what I do for the length of
(08:49):
time I've been doing it, andthen you think Paul Levesque is
a lifelong student of the gameof professional wrestling.
He clearly loves this stuff andstudies it, and now he's the
lead creator of it.
I think that's very likely thatwe don't even understand the
(09:11):
amount of things that go overour head that also are connected
and we just missed it.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Yeah, yeah, I think the storytelling in the last two
years has been incredible.
If you're looking at it yearover year, where, if you look at
one month snippets, it's likethe stock market.
The stock market goes up anddown, but over.
(09:40):
If you look at it over the year, it like stays, it balances
itself out over, and maybe it'snot every day but over time
right.
But when you look at it monthto month, you could be like, oh,
this month's story hasn't beengreat, but triple h over the
course of the last couple yearshas blown it out of the water
with the story.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
So back to the conversation about who some of
these people are.
John cena has been the face ofwwe since, probably going back
to the.
(10:21):
I think.
He debuted his first worldchampionship in 05 or 06 and
then he was the hero role whichthey call baby face.
In wrestling has done the mostmake-a-wish meetings of anyone
on the planet, right?
(10:42):
So he's not just a good guy inthe ring, he's the goodest guy
on the planet, right.
So he's not just a good guy inthe ring, he's the goodest guy
on the planet, right, arguably,if you follow him on twitter,
which he follows me on twitter,which is one of my biggest
claims to fame, really butactually I remember, I actually
I remember when that happened.
(11:02):
Yeah, and even with his turningbad in the WWE story, his posts
are still inspirational kinds ofposts every day, like about
believing in yourself, tuningout the negativity, being able
to go after your goals, beingwilling to sacrifice, being
(11:24):
willing to just have self-beliefto do anything.
Those are the things that JohnCena talks about.
I even have an inspirationaldevotional book by John Cena in
my office somewhere.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Never give up is his slogan.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
But's the thing.
I don't think joining the rockis a sign of giving up.
In fact, I think it's smartbecause and we've talked about
this so many times, marcus, Idon't remember if it made it
into any episodes, but let'stalk some Elden Ring really
(12:05):
quick, here we go.
All right, I have made thismetaphorical bridge happen so
many times.
You already know where I'mgoing.
If your goal is to defeat aboss and there is something you
can do to make yourself morelikely to win, there are some
Elden Ring players that say,yeah, but you won in a cheap way
(12:27):
, so you're not really very goodat the game.
But my approach is it does notmatter in professional wrestling
if your buddy hits the guy inthe head with a chair and then
you pin them and you take theirtitle, or if you hit them with
your finisher and you take theirtitle, because both of those
(12:48):
stories end with and new WWEchampion.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Yes, the other side too is of with John Cena, and
your metaphor Is that it's sohard for people to fathom what
has happened.
He has the most make-a-wishgranted.
(13:16):
He is granted more make-a-wishthan any other person ever.
This man is lovedgenerationally Men, women,
children, grandpas, grandmas,uncles, aunts Like this guy is
loved, and what he did on atElimination Chamber
(13:53):
no-transcript also WWE is sosmart, so slick about that
moment.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Because who else was in the ring for that moment?
Marcus the Rock?
No, who else was in the ring?
Travis Scott, travis Scott Idon't know who that is, but
apparently millions of people doand that's a big deal and
that's going to get eyes on thatmoment in a way that just WWE
(14:23):
fans wouldn't hit.
But it reminds me of the 90s,when the New World Order had
Dennis Rodman showing up, whereyou just get these people in the
ring.
Or Mike Tyson showing up on WWEin the mid 90s during his boxing
suspension.
You get these people in thering that amplify the audience
(14:46):
and then you get moments thatcan be timeless.
And so Cody Rhodes and JohnCena are the same character at
two different points in thetimeline, are the same character
at two different points in thetimeline.
They're just both super gooddudes that belong in the running
to be the world champion, andthey were set up after John
(15:09):
Cena's win at EliminationChamber to face each other for
the title at this year'sWrestleMania.
But the thing about wrestlingis it's much more compelling
when you have a good guy and abad guy, and so one of them, by
this logic needs to be the badguy, and Cody Rhodes has been
the bad guy before not in hiscurrent run in WWE, but before
(15:31):
he has.
So you would think maybe it'shim and they were teasing that.
Maybe it's him, with the rockwanting his soul, trying to
channel shang tsung for mortalcombat, their final boss of
mortal combat.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
One I did not.
Okay, on every bingo card I had, I never thought they would
pull the trigger on john cenaturning bad guy.
I thought CM Punk was going towin and or John Cena was just
going to win and some otherfuckery was going to happen.
But the magic of it all wasSeth Rollins screwed over CM
(16:12):
Punk, john Cena capitalized andthen John Cena turned bad.
The picture of John Cenalooking at the rock when he's
about to annihilate Cody Rhodesis a face I'll never forget.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
They're both legitimately actors now.
They pulled off that momentreally well the verbal part, the
nonverbal part.
Really well the verbal part,the nonverbal part.
When I was talking with my sonthe afternoon before that event,
he floated out the idea thatcould happen.
I told him the same thing.
I told you I thought SethRollins was going to win.
(16:50):
I was not correct, but my son'sidea is roughly what happened
and that is mind-blowing to methat he called it because
there's no reason to believethat would actually happen that
John Cena would turn and becomethe villain for this final year
(17:12):
of his career.
But it's super fun and since weare a video game podcast, it
started out with the pre-orderfor 2K25.
I've been thinking a lot aboutwhat I am professionally and
what I do as a streamer and howthose things are more convergent
(17:33):
now than they used to be.
So I think, despite not likingone of these modes in 2k, I
think I'm gonna have to streamsome 2k 25.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I I was actually just gonna say that what I think you
do is I think you should createa make a character like sign in
, make a character like a fresh,like gamology.
Or you can make make a Marcuscharacter and make the story and
build that character and playit on stream, maybe one day a
week, and play that characterthrough the story mode and build
(18:10):
them up the ranks or thecharacter through your streams
and your persona of thatcharacter and what the gimmick
you play in the game will be thegimmick you can play when
(18:33):
you're playing that characteryou know, I was editing the
footage from the twitch streamwhere I did my lecture and it's
just me talking and I can readthe chat.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
But it's me, my powerpoint and the chat and
there were moments where I wason such a roll and you could
tell everything I was saying.
I completely believed on a cmPunk believing what he's saying
kind of level and I just thoughtto myself, oh my gosh.
There are moments not everytime, but there are moments when
(19:08):
I'm talking about video gamesand mental health, modern
mythology, where I really amdoing my best to get that same
feeling that professionalwrestlers get when they're
cutting a promo.
I I wonder all the time what itwould be like to be a
(19:28):
professional wrestler.
Honestly, I know painful yeah,I've had some injuries that make
that unlikely in a very poorlife choice for me, but I still
think about it all the time.
It just seems like such a funprofession to get to bring to
life every day.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah, sure.
I see that and I'm going to talkabout 2K is I've never in the
2K games.
I've never actually played anyof the modes, except straight up
.
I'm gonna call it free play ofwrestling, where I play it with
my son and we're just twowrestlers and most of the time
(20:07):
he'll pick my character andhe'll be cody rhodes and he does
the whole entrance thing, whoa,in like real life and it's
pretty rad.
So this time I'm eager to getit because I want to play the
other modes.
But I want to see do they haveit?
They have it on steam.
(20:29):
Is it available on steam?
Speaker 1 (20:33):
that's a 2k25 right there I think the ps5 version
has the island.
I don't think the steam versiondoes.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Be careful the other thing that they're doing this
year in that game is intergenderwrestling.
So I'm going to be able to bedominic mysterio or rhea ripley
and beat the crap out of dirtydom that's pretty cool or be
elizabeth and have her beat up.
Macho man Randy Savage fromback in the day.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
That's funny.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Yeah, they always had these weird rules where they'd
automatically walk away fromeach other and you couldn't
interact, so I'm glad theychanged that.
Valuable as a resource forpeople is.
(21:23):
A lot of my professional workactually is involved in helping
people who gamble, and one ofthe things that has been on the
rise for at least a decadestrong are these different kinds
of microtransactions in videogames that use the same
psychology as gambling games doand cause people to spend
excessive amounts of money, and2K for WWE actually has this
(21:46):
mode it's called my Factionwhere you open up digital packs
of cards.
Those cards have wrestlers witha rating on them and you want
to get the highest level ofjewel right, so there's galaxy
opal, pink diamond, sapphire,amethyst, and the better type of
(22:08):
gem is the strength of yourwrestler and also the number, so
a number between 1 and 99 andyou want the rare cards in your
deck so that you can use them,because whatever wrestlers you
draw, you get to use in yourmatches.
The problem is, new packs comeout every week and I felt some
(22:31):
year or I have felt in someyears that the costs of a new
pack were reasonable, but with2K24, I felt like the prices
were gouged, that they were justdouble or triple what they
should have been.
But as the former GamblingCounselor Certification Board
(22:51):
president, it could becompelling for me to create
videos where I say I'm going tobuy one pack, we're going to
open it and in real time.
I'm going to buy one pack,we're going to open it and in
real time I'm going to breakdown and analyze what a lot of
people would be feeling fromthis pack and talk about why
it's important not to chase, whyit's important to be reasonable
(23:12):
and stick to your budget.
Just little resources like thatcould help people to see that
there's responsible ways to dothis in video games and that
there's responsible ways to dothis in video games, and then
there's unhealthy ways to do ittoo for sure, and you are
correct.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
The island is only available for new gen wwe 2k25
on ps5 and xbox series x therewe go.
So note to self everybody, donot buy WWE 2K25 on the computer
unless you don't have an Xboxand or I'm excited for it, Like
(23:46):
I played a lot of 2K24 when itfirst came out, but I think this
time I'm going to play it in adifferent way so that I can
enjoy the modes.
I wasn't really into my factionand I never built.
I really want to build acharacter up, make a character
and like they start in theindies and go.
(24:08):
I think that sounds reallyintriguing and fun.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
I do too.
I remember some of my favoritethings on the N64.
As a kid would be playing thestory modes with my created
character.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Yeah, what's a good wrestling name you would pick
for yourself?
Speaker 1 (24:30):
My character when I was a teenager was like what if
Kane was in D-Generation X?
Like what if Kane was inD-Generation X, but his color
was blue and that was mycharacter and I named him Da
Bomb.
I don't think I would do thatcharacter now because I'm wiser
(24:54):
and realize how terrible thatsounds, but back when I was in
middle school that was the bestchoice available.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Do you remember the game?
It was like a snowboarding gameand there was one of the
characters that had a big no, itwas a fighting game and he had
a big afro.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
You might need to get more specific, Marcus.
I'm not sure.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
I'll have to think of the name of the game, but
anyway, my character back in theday was Afro Thunder.
Wow, the memory box is justopening up right now.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
That screams TV title division to me.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Oh yeah, for sure, yeah, like opening the show.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Yeah, you could do that the show.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Yeah, you could do that I so I'm gonna challenge
myself with this game is to playa mode and create a character.
Even if I lose, it's okay.
Just learn how to play the gameand go through the ranks and
see where it goes.
You know what I mean.
Should actually build the ranksof it yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
So there's my rise.
That's the story mode.
There's GM.
That's a pretty cool mode too,because you have to draft your
show and then program the showand see how your viewers and
your revenue goes up and down.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
See, that'd be interesting.
I played a game like that once.
It was called football manager.
It's a soccer game essentially,yeah, and you manage a football
club, soccer club if you're notif you're in america, and it
was pretty fun.
I found out that I'm a terriblemanager and I got fired because
the club didn't win it happensyeah, I don't think I could be
(26:36):
Nick Aldis.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Yeah, also, dez, and I have a joke for Adam Pearce,
since he's always breaking upfights that his name is Adam
Peace.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
I think that we should do a video on us playing
WWE together, for sure.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
I have actually a different thing and we can cut
this out of the episode don'tcut anything anymore.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
This is this.
Is it call me?
Speaker 1 (27:05):
I think so I haven't been putting the video version
on patreon recently because Ihaven't been getting it done
early enough in the week andthen I forget, and then I'm a
day behind and then theepisode's already out in audio.
All kinds of excuses but, Ithink that one thing we could do
for patreon is do 10 to 20minute gameplay.
(27:29):
That's like not evennecessarily connected to the
episode, but just record usdoing that and the banter and
the conversation and then justgive it to them.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Or even us hanging out.
And you do, I do 20 minutes ofElden Ring and you're just
making fun of me the whole time,because I can't roll, hey,
marcus.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Yeah, doc, I can't roll right either.
Why would I make fun of you forthat?
I play a wizard so that I don'thave to roll.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yeah, I can't even imagine that, especially in the
beginning of the game, when youdon't have you just gotta be
afraid, Marcus.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
You gotta let your fear win.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Oh, I let my fear win and I get my butt whooped every
time.
I'm excited to go into thattunnel.
Speaking of the tunnel, Doc,what games have you played this
week?
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Oh, that's a great question.
So today on stream I playedFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth.
We got through so many bossfights in Chapter 13.
We're now at the part whereevery character has to face
their inner darkest fears.
It's like a temple sequencewhere you switch to each
(28:44):
character, one at a time, andthey have to face themselves.
So we're getting into the endgame like Sephiroth is down the
hallway.
It's just a question of howmany doors in that hallway are
going to open up on the side andthrow stuff at me.
But it's so good.
And Monster Hunter Wilds I haveplayed five hours now of my
(29:06):
first ever Monster Hunter game.
What do you think?
Actually, I had a threads postthat blew up this week Almost
700,000 impressions, impressions, over a thousand likes and
people criticizing me for myopinion.
I basically said I've playedmonster hunter wilds for three
(29:29):
hours.
It's my first one ever played.
Here are my thoughts.
And number one was charactercreation was awesome.
Number two was I got to createmy fur friend in my game because
I made my cat, venti my felinecompanion.
The third one is I don't thinkthis is the best monster hunter
(29:52):
to play if it's your first one.
And then number four was Sameas number three, because I am so
lost.
And then four was somethingabout the inventory popping open
during all my fights.
Why is it that button?
And then the sixth one is I'mhaving a lot of fun and I really
(30:14):
want to get better at the game,but people don't read the
comments under the main post.
Nope, no.
Read the comments under themain post Nope, no.
So there are so many people onthe planet that needed to tell
me that they've played everyMonster Hunter since the
(30:34):
beginning, and me saying this isnot a good one to play as your
first one is a ridiculous pointof view.
But I'm sitting there with themsaying they played all of them
and this is the easiest one.
It's the easiest one becauseyou have played all of them.
You massive tools.
(30:57):
Anyway, I picked the wrongweapon for me for my first three
hours.
For my second stream, therewere people who were great
supportive Monster Hunter peoplethat are excited when a new
person joins their favorite game, and they said, hey, you should
(31:18):
try different weapons.
I really like this one, andthen I really like this one.
So I tried one of those otherones.
I tried the dual blades for mysecond stream, which was my
fourth and fifth hour of playingthe game and I loved it.
I can roll fast, I can attackfast, I'm nimble and I can dodge
.
My first stream I was doing likethe monster hunter giant sword
(31:41):
thing Like when you thinkmonster hunter it's the sword
with the serrated teeth on theside and I was moving so slow
that every monster was justhitting me in the face with
their tail.
Not my play style.
It would be like me playing agiant sword in Elden Ring with
no magic.
It wouldn't work.
It's not my style.
It's not how my brain thinkswhen I'm having to manage a
(32:04):
fight in real time.
So they gave me advice, I tookit, I fixed it and I went on to
that post and said thanks,everyone who gave me some good
ideas.
My second stream was much moresuccessful and I really love the
game, but I still continue toget pounded by those OGs who
just need to remind me of howstupid I am.
So thank you.
(32:24):
Internet Mazel tov.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
You're not stupid.
It doesn't matter what you sayon the Internet.
Somebody's always going to bebutthurt and is always going to
say something stupid.
You just, yeah, I just can't.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
I've already solved the problem.
So, even though I'm gettingit's, the waves and waves of
messages are over.
But the second day of thosemessages they were criticizing a
person who didn't even existanymore because I already was
enjoying the game and fixed myproblems.
It really was just.
I'm excited that I'm new to thefranchise.
I've been wanting to join thefranchise for a long time, but
(33:01):
it just never happened.
And here's what I think aboutit.
People are just so gatekeepy.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Yeah, okay, so Monster Hunter Wilds Final
Fantasy.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
VII Rebirth Since last episode.
I do not think so.
Oh, all right what?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
about you.
So I have been playing someelden ring.
I found a new tunnel in caled.
It's a catacomb, it's hidden.
You had to like I had, I wasjust exploring and then I
stumbled on a tree and I walkedacross this tree and I found
this catacomb and I entered itand I died.
(33:45):
No, and it was fun to die, butI ended up beating it and it
wasn't that hard.
I just am rusty.
The other thing I have beenplaying is I've been back on
Switch playing Octopath Traveler2.
I think I have gotten almostall the characters now.
(34:08):
I think I have two left thedancer and, I don't know, the
astrologer.
Maybe I have them left to get.
I've forgotten how JRPGs workand I actually had to restart
one of my characters because Ididn't like do multiple save
(34:32):
files, like at different timestamps, because I got to a point
and I missed a bunch of stuffand when I went to fight the
boss I didn't have any stuff tofight the boss and that was the
save, the save point.
So I couldn't really gobackwards and so I I restarted
that character story and did itagain and it worked out.
(35:03):
It is really hard yeah, itreally is I'm not good at it at
all, but it's a different gameand I'm really enjoying it.
That the calmness of it yeah,yeah, I really do.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
I think if you line up what kinds of goals work for
you, you can play in a prettylow stress way yeah, but when
you wipe or die a bunch in a rowit gets frustrating yeah, sure,
that's, true too you know whatI mean, not like elden ring
frustrating, because elden ringsfrustration is.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
I call that the unfair frustration because it's
so difficult where, like theturn-based combat, if you don't
take it seriously it kicks yourass and you're like stop just
hitting standard attack.
You actually have to read whatall the moves do.
It's not rolling out of the way.
The other crazy thing that I'vebeen playing is real life
(36:05):
hockey.
I played hockey Sunday night,monday night and Tuesday night.
Wow, I had three games in a row.
Plus I'm on a huge project atwork where Sunday actually I
played at 1.30 in the afternoonat Sunday, on Sunday, but then I
(36:27):
had to go in at 4 am and Ididn't get out of work until 9
pm the next day or later thatday.
I went to bed, had to be to workfor 4 am and that cycle
repeated.
So when you texted me yesterday, I was out, cold am and that
cycle repeated.
So when you texted me yesterday, I was out cold and tomorrow
morning I have to be there for 5am and then the project is done
(36:49):
.
I'll tell you what, man my bodyis exhausted.
I think I'm at like 80 hours asof today.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
That's awful.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
It's awful, but you make a shit ton of money on
overtime.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Yeah, I don't, but that's nice for you.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Yes, for sure, but anyway.
So I've been getting somegaming done.
But the other thing I want tosay is I've really been taking
my time in reading, enjoyingreading again, and I'm reading.
It's called the Way of Kings byBrandon Sanderson.
It's the first book.
(37:29):
It's the first book in theseries of Stormlight Archive.
It's the first fantasy bookI've ever read in my life.
Oh, it was recommended to me bya friend because I'm not really
like a knight in shining armor,like medieval guy.
I'm not really like a knight inshining armor, like medieval
guy.
I'm not a big fan of Game ofThrones.
It's just not my cup of tea.
(37:50):
I'm more of a sci-fi like.
I'm more of a sci-fi guy likeDune.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
You worked through Harry Potter a while ago.
Those are fantasy.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Yeah, but that's not.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
I guess I'm an adult fantasy.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Yeah, but no, that's it's fantasy, but it's not, I
should guess, like an adultfantasy.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
Yeah, but no, that's it's fantasy but it's not
medieval times, fantasy kind ofthing got it like mythological
fantasy.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
It's I don't know, it's fantasy, but it's also like
real, like kid goes to a school.
I can understand that there's awizard school.
I can understand that there'sbad guys at said wizard school
because they want to master theDoc Otts.
You know what I mean.
I can understand all that, butthis book is a thousand pages.
(38:33):
It's the biggest.
If I finish this book which Iwill is the biggest book I've
ever read.
But I got to go get it becauseit just came.
It just got delivered last weekand I'm like reading as much as
I can to get through so I canread this book.
But I want to show it to youwhile I explain to everybody
(38:55):
what it is.
Okay, it just came out.
Star Wars, star Wars of theEmpire, the Mask of Fear oh, it
just came out.
It says the Rebellion.
(39:15):
The Empire Reigned In order toensure the security and
continuing stability.
The Republic will be organizedinto the first galactic empire
for a safe and secure society.
With one speech and thunderousapplause, chancellor Palpatine
brought the era of the Republiccrashing down and its place rose
(39:35):
the galactic empire.
Across the galaxy, peoplerejoiced and celebrated the end
of the war and the promises oftomorrow, but that tomorrow was
a lie.
Instead, the galaxy becametwisted by the cruelty and fear
of the emperor's rule.
During that terrifying firstyear of tyranny, mon Mothma,
(39:56):
saul Guerrera and Bail Organafaced the encroaching darkness.
One day, the architect, theywill be the architects of the
rebel alliance, but first eachmust find purpose and direction
in a changing galaxy, whileharboring their own secrets,
fears and hopes for a futurethat may never come unless they
(40:17):
act.
Sounds good, yeah, so I'mreading this book and I
pre-ordered this book months agoand I'm.
I was.
It came out, I think, february25th, and but I'm in this other
book and I want to say I'm likefive or 600 pages in, but I just
(40:37):
want to be done.
I'm enjoying the book but, likethis book is calling my name
and I don't know if I can, if Istop reading the other book, to
start reading this one, I thinkI will be, I think I won't go
back.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Yeah, you got to finish the book that you're on.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
Yeah, okay, so you're sending me a thing on discord
that says Star Wars musical.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
It's the entire conversation between Anakin and
Obi-Wan.
If it was a musical, it's doneby AI.
It is so good.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Okay, I'm going to have to listen to that, but
either way, that's pretty muchmy week Work reading, a little
bit of gaming.
Actually, I actually did play abunch of that octopath traveler
.
It's really convenient to havea switch.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
yeah, the new switch is coming out I did play another
game, marcus the light.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
Attention, everybody listening to the podcast.
The light bulb just flashed inDoc's house.
He has an epiphany, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
I played Disney Dreamlight Valley on my Steam
deck.
What is that?
It's like Animal Crossing, butyou're in Disney.
You create your Disneycharacter and you have to just
do chores, clean up the evil,thorn vines and plant carrots
(42:09):
and feed the bunnies and fishwith Goofy and you just.
It's a cozy game, there's nocombat.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
There's no fighting.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
You just try to unlock friends and get outfits
and build your house in disney.
It's fun.
I got to become friends withmoana and goofy and mickey so
far would it?
Speaker 2 (42:41):
I'm trying to think of the right way to say this.
Is it like?
Would a kid be able to play it?
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
Is it on the Switch?
Yeah, I think so.
I don't know if they'dunderstand everything, but they
could do some fun things hereand there.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Oh really.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
Yeah, you have to be able to keep track of inventory.
Go find five of this.
Go find three of that.
Find cooking ingredients forthis recipe.
But it is a cozy game.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
Yeah, cozy edition.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Yep, you just relax and spend time playing it.
You can get some psychologicalflow through repetitive tasks
and just de-stress out of getour reality focus on a screen
interesting.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
That's a cool idea.
I don't know, I think it's mywife's favorite game, really.
Like current favorite game orfavorite game.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
Current favorite game .
Speaker 2 (43:50):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
Are you going to get the Switch 2?
Eventually, the odds are.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
I'm going to have three Switch 2s in my house if
we wait long enough.
Yeah, I guess that's true.
I guess that is true?
Speaker 1 (44:11):
huh, yeah, because I have one.
Actually, all three of us haveone, so we'll probably get one.
To start out, it'll be in theliving room and in my son's room
most of the time, and thenwe'll get to a point where I
want to stream a game that I canonly play on it, and then I'll
get one for me to hook up to thecapture card on my computer.
(44:32):
And then, because I want to befair, at the time where I buy
that one, I'll buy another onefor my wife and then all of us
will have one.
But that's gonna take placeover a 12 month stretch of time,
probably.
Yeah, I'm, I'm not gonna go outto the store when they're brand
new and buy three sure I canunderstand that man.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
So challenge for next week yeah, I'm listening you
get a place of wwe 2k25 onstream oh, that's a really good
question.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
I'm gonna have to start streaming more or I'm
gonna have to just be honestwith my community and just tell
them some games are not makingthe cut to make it on stream
because it's too much already.
I can't fit Monster Hunterbecause I haven't beaten Final
Fantasy VII Rebirth.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
How far are you from the end of Rebirth?
Sorry to interrupt.
Speaker 1 (45:36):
Oh no, that was a perfect interruption.
There's 14 chapters and I'm on13.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
So my suggestion then would be finish Rebirth.
Just be done with it.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
Focus on that.
So then you can play MonsterHunter and WWE 2K25.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
Also, I have Shadow of the Erd Tree.
Now too, there's like personalreasons that I have to finish
that.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
Oh yeah, for sure.
You can't keep sucking, youjust need to do it.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
Suck less, skate better die less yeah.
Get good Get.
What is it?
Get good Get?
Speaker 1 (46:17):
good, get it.
G-i-t-g-u-d.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
Yeah and yeah.
Continue the journey.
Welcome to the Gaming Persona Podcast.
This is the show that exploreswho we become when we play games
, Whether you're saving kingdoms, leading epic raids or just
vibing in cozy indie worlds.
Join me, Dr Gamology and mygood friend Marcus, as we search
for all the ways gaming andpersonal growth collide.
Grab your controllers and let'scontinue the journey Now.
(00:21):
Continue the journey now.
So, Marcus, I have to go intothe PlayStation Store right now
and pre-order 2K25, because itcomes out in three hours.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Actually, I was actually going to talk to you
about that because they're doingsomething in that game.
But before I even mention thegame, it comes out tomorrow.
I thought it comes out nextweek.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
The pre-order play period starts tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
WWE2K25 release March 14th.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
It says yeah, but the early access for pre-orders is
tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Oh, because if you get the Deadman or the Bloodline
edition, you will get earlyaccess starting on March 7th.
Yes, the Dead man or theBloodline edition, you will get
early access starting on March7th.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Yes, I just bought the Bloodline edition Live on
the show.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
Wow, See wow.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Nothing's going to keep me away from my tribal
chief, Marcus.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
What do you think of the no beard?
I think it looks great.
I think Marcus, yeah, yeah.
What do you think of the?
Speaker 1 (01:25):
no beard.
I think it looks great.
I think I think that it's acool look for you.
Well, it's different, right?
Yeah, I've only seen it likemaybe four times our entire
friendship.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, want to hear the funny story of it.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Sure yeah, tell us.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
So my kids go to private school and it's a
Catholic school.
And so they came home and it'sEaster for Lent, and they're
like Daddy, what are you givingup for Lent?
And I'm like I eat salad, I eatyogurt, I've given up all the
bad stuff.
I'm like ooh, what am I goingto do?
I'm going to give up my beardfor 40 days.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Wow, I was thinking.
Other alternatives are likebackward facing hats.
You could give that up for 40days.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, but then, yeah, I could do a four.
No, I think the beard is go bigor go home, dude.
They gave up candy, like for me, like for them.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
that's like the world ending yeah you should you
should never promise things thatyou're gonna regret that's
right, so I'm not gonna regretlosing my beard yeah, your face
will feel significantly lessitchy, much more hygienic.
People see your smile and beable to understand your facial
(02:45):
expressions.
There's all kinds of benefitsto this.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yes, but back to this WWE 2K25 thing.
I'm glad you said that, becausethat means I'm going to get it.
Oh, I wonder when you canpre-download it.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Oh, I don't know.
I'm going to have to check thatout after we're done recording.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Sure, the thing I wanted to actually talk, talk to
you about and you brought it upand it's like magic is
happening that it comes outtomorrow is they're doing
something new.
Did you see that they're doingthis like mmo style island the
island, yeah, where there'sgoing to be quests, and I'm like
what kind of quests?
And I want to know if is itgoing to be like mortal combat
(03:23):
quests, where you're going towalk up to Jey Uso and be like,
hey, man, I got beef, let'swrestle and then you do a match,
or is it going to be like, hey,you got to go to the gym and go
clean the gym towels becauseyou lost a bet?
You know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (03:38):
I think it'll have all of that.
Actually it's.
It feels very similar to me aswhat the NBA 2K games try to do
with their neighborhood.
Or you have street games, youhave in the gym games, you have
workouts and drills and youincrease your stat points by
doing different things.
That's what I imagine it'sgoing to be.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yeah, I'm intrigued by that, because so many times I
just don't feel like doing justa match and I think for me as a
casual MMO player, like thatmight get me to hook myself in.
Oh, I can sign in for 20minutes and go do a quest, or is
it that you're like a rookieand you're building yourself up
(04:22):
on this island trying to getnoticed?
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
There's a giant statue slash building that is
shaped like Roman Reigns.
So I think the goal of beingrecognized or being acknowledged
on the island is the main cruxof the story.
If I had to guess, yeah, I'meager to see.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I always am excited for my first match, because when
Ryan and I play, he's alwaysCody Rhodes, like right away,
first character, boom.
And my first character is KevinOwens.
And he says to me tonight, he'sdaddy, when 2K25 comes out, who
(05:05):
are you going to be?
You can't be Kevin Owens.
And he says to me tonight he'sdaddy, when two K 25 comes out,
who are you going to be?
You can't be Kevin Owens.
I said Seth fricking Rollins,pal, he goes, oh that's a good
one.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
I saw a really interesting thing on social
media that I didn't have time toprocess, but my head is
spinning Sure on social media.
That I didn't have time toprocess, but my head is spinning
Sure.
And Cody Rhodes had that twomonth feud with Kevin Owens to
close out 2024.
And now he's facing off withJohn Cena, who just turned heel
(05:40):
for the first time in his 23year career.
's the bad guy he joined therock.
You either die a hero or livelong enough to see yourself
become a villain.
Right wait, can we?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
back up if we're gonna do, if we're doing
wrestling, talk, can we like?
Can john?
Can you explain john cena tothe people who aren't wrestling
people?
That's why it's so big that heturned bad.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
I will, but.
I want to finish the CodyRhodes point first.
Oh shit, here we go, thepicture of him being hoisted up
on the shoulders of Sami Zaynand Jey Uso from Wrestlemania,
from WrestleMania, from right toleft.
Okay to left, like readingmanga Japanese.
(06:29):
Right to left.
The order is Kevin Owens, johnCena, sami Zayn, jey Uso, randy
Orton.
What if everyone turns on CodyRhodes this year?
And that's the order that hefeuds with them?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
interesting like.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
That's the classic picture.
Cody Rhodes dethroned Romanigns.
Wwe is holding him up.
He's their champion.
We're triumphant.
The good guys won atWrestleMania 40.
But two of those celebratorshave already turned on Cody
(07:17):
Rhodes in the order that they'restanding in in the picture, and
I just feel like WWE sees thatas a storytelling opportunity
that's really interesting, manthat is.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
I'm looking at the picture right now so that, yeah,
I that's interesting.
I mean they say paul Triple H,everything is connected and of
course pictures and likeconspiracy theories and all this
stuff, but it feels almost likehe's known all along how far
(07:54):
it's going to go.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
It does feel like that, and that's one of the cool
things about telling your storyweek by week, getting to see
what the reactions are andreflect, and then you write your
next story, right.
But also you have to have amindset that we're not just
throwing random stuff in herebecause we might be able to use
this later.
And I just want to say Triple His doing things on a worldwide
(08:24):
level that I cannot fathom.
But there were times when I waswriting my book where there was
a little bit of that, where Iwould deliberately foreshadow
something only but not fullyexplain it, with the idea that
I'm going to come back in about10 chapters and fully explain
that.
So if I'm having that mindsetwith what I do for the length of
(08:49):
time I've been doing it, andthen you think Paul Levesque is
a lifelong student of the gameof professional wrestling.
He clearly loves this stuff andstudies it, and now he's the
lead creator of it.
I think that's very likely thatwe don't even understand the
(09:11):
amount of things that go overour head that also are connected
and we just missed it.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Yeah, yeah, I think the storytelling in the last two
years has been incredible.
If you're looking at it yearover year, where, if you look at
one month snippets, it's likethe stock market.
The stock market goes up anddown, but over.
(09:40):
If you look at it over the year, it like stays, it balances
itself out over, and maybe it'snot every day but over time
right.
But when you look at it monthto month, you could be like, oh,
this month's story hasn't beengreat, but triple h over the
course of the last couple yearshas blown it out of the water
with the story.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
So back to the conversation about who some of
these people are.
John cena has been the face ofwwe since, probably going back
to the.
(10:21):
I think.
He debuted his first worldchampionship in 05 or 06 and
then he was the hero role whichthey call baby face.
In wrestling has done the mostmake-a-wish meetings of anyone
on the planet, right?
(10:42):
So he's not just a good guy inthe ring, he's the goodest guy
on the planet, right.
So he's not just a good guy inthe ring, he's the goodest guy
on the planet, right, arguably,if you follow him on twitter,
which he follows me on twitter,which is one of my biggest
claims to fame, really butactually I remember, I actually
I remember when that happened.
(11:02):
Yeah, and even with his turningbad in the WWE story, his posts
are still inspirational kinds ofposts every day, like about
believing in yourself, tuningout the negativity, being able
to go after your goals, beingwilling to sacrifice, being
(11:24):
willing to just have self-beliefto do anything.
Those are the things that JohnCena talks about.
I even have an inspirationaldevotional book by John Cena in
my office somewhere.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Never give up is his slogan.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
But's the thing.
I don't think joining the rockis a sign of giving up.
In fact, I think it's smartbecause and we've talked about
this so many times, marcus, Idon't remember if it made it
into any episodes, but let'stalk some Elden Ring really
(12:05):
quick, here we go.
All right, I have made thismetaphorical bridge happen so
many times.
You already know where I'mgoing.
If your goal is to defeat aboss and there is something you
can do to make yourself morelikely to win, there are some
Elden Ring players that say,yeah, but you won in a cheap way
(12:27):
, so you're not really very goodat the game.
But my approach is it does notmatter in professional wrestling
if your buddy hits the guy inthe head with a chair and then
you pin them and you take theirtitle, or if you hit them with
your finisher and you take theirtitle, because both of those
(12:48):
stories end with and new WWEchampion.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Yes, the other side too is of with John Cena, and
your metaphor Is that it's sohard for people to fathom what
has happened.
He has the most make-a-wishgranted.
(13:16):
He is granted more make-a-wishthan any other person ever.
This man is lovedgenerationally Men, women,
children, grandpas, grandmas,uncles, aunts Like this guy is
loved, and what he did on atElimination Chamber
(13:53):
no-transcript also WWE is sosmart, so slick about that
moment.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Because who else was in the ring for that moment?
Marcus the Rock?
No, who else was in the ring?
Travis Scott, travis Scott Idon't know who that is, but
apparently millions of people doand that's a big deal and
that's going to get eyes on thatmoment in a way that just WWE
(14:23):
fans wouldn't hit.
But it reminds me of the 90s,when the New World Order had
Dennis Rodman showing up, whereyou just get these people in the
ring.
Or Mike Tyson showing up on WWEin the mid 90s during his boxing
suspension.
You get these people in thering that amplify the audience
(14:46):
and then you get moments thatcan be timeless.
And so Cody Rhodes and JohnCena are the same character at
two different points in thetimeline, are the same character
at two different points in thetimeline.
They're just both super gooddudes that belong in the running
to be the world champion, andthey were set up after John
(15:09):
Cena's win at EliminationChamber to face each other for
the title at this year'sWrestleMania.
But the thing about wrestlingis it's much more compelling
when you have a good guy and abad guy, and so one of them, by
this logic needs to be the badguy, and Cody Rhodes has been
the bad guy before not in hiscurrent run in WWE, but before
(15:31):
he has.
So you would think maybe it'shim and they were teasing that.
Maybe it's him, with the rockwanting his soul, trying to
channel shang tsung for mortalcombat, their final boss of
mortal combat.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
One I did not.
Okay, on every bingo card I had, I never thought they would
pull the trigger on john cenaturning bad guy.
I thought CM Punk was going towin and or John Cena was just
going to win and some otherfuckery was going to happen.
But the magic of it all wasSeth Rollins screwed over CM
(16:12):
Punk, john Cena capitalized andthen John Cena turned bad.
The picture of John Cenalooking at the rock when he's
about to annihilate Cody Rhodesis a face I'll never forget.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
They're both legitimately actors now.
They pulled off that momentreally well the verbal part, the
nonverbal part.
Really well the verbal part,the nonverbal part.
When I was talking with my sonthe afternoon before that event,
he floated out the idea thatcould happen.
I told him the same thing.
I told you I thought SethRollins was going to win.
(16:50):
I was not correct, but my son'sidea is roughly what happened
and that is mind-blowing to methat he called it because
there's no reason to believethat would actually happen that
John Cena would turn and becomethe villain for this final year
(17:12):
of his career.
But it's super fun and since weare a video game podcast, it
started out with the pre-orderfor 2K25.
I've been thinking a lot aboutwhat I am professionally and
what I do as a streamer and howthose things are more convergent
(17:33):
now than they used to be.
So I think, despite not likingone of these modes in 2k, I
think I'm gonna have to streamsome 2k 25.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I I was actually just gonna say that what I think you
do is I think you should createa make a character like sign in
, make a character like a fresh,like gamology.
Or you can make make a Marcuscharacter and make the story and
build that character and playit on stream, maybe one day a
week, and play that characterthrough the story mode and build
(18:10):
them up the ranks or thecharacter through your streams
and your persona of thatcharacter and what the gimmick
you play in the game will be thegimmick you can play when
(18:33):
you're playing that characteryou know, I was editing the
footage from the twitch streamwhere I did my lecture and it's
just me talking and I can readthe chat.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
But it's me, my powerpoint and the chat and
there were moments where I wason such a roll and you could
tell everything I was saying.
I completely believed on a cmPunk believing what he's saying
kind of level and I just thoughtto myself, oh my gosh.
There are moments not everytime, but there are moments when
(19:08):
I'm talking about video gamesand mental health, modern
mythology, where I really amdoing my best to get that same
feeling that professionalwrestlers get when they're
cutting a promo.
I I wonder all the time what itwould be like to be a
(19:28):
professional wrestler.
Honestly, I know painful yeah,I've had some injuries that make
that unlikely in a very poorlife choice for me, but I still
think about it all the time.
It just seems like such a funprofession to get to bring to
life every day.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Yeah, sure.
I see that and I'm going to talkabout 2K is I've never in the
2K games.
I've never actually played anyof the modes, except straight up
.
I'm gonna call it free play ofwrestling, where I play it with
my son and we're just twowrestlers and most of the time
(20:07):
he'll pick my character andhe'll be cody rhodes and he does
the whole entrance thing, whoa,in like real life and it's
pretty rad.
So this time I'm eager to getit because I want to play the
other modes.
But I want to see do they haveit?
They have it on steam.
(20:29):
Is it available on steam?
Speaker 1 (20:33):
that's a 2k25 right there I think the ps5 version
has the island.
I don't think the steam versiondoes.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Be careful the other thing that they're doing this
year in that game is intergenderwrestling.
So I'm going to be able to bedominic mysterio or rhea ripley
and beat the crap out of dirtydom that's pretty cool or be
elizabeth and have her beat up.
Macho man Randy Savage fromback in the day.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
That's funny.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
Yeah, they always had these weird rules where they'd
automatically walk away fromeach other and you couldn't
interact, so I'm glad theychanged that.
Valuable as a resource forpeople is.
(21:23):
A lot of my professional workactually is involved in helping
people who gamble, and one ofthe things that has been on the
rise for at least a decadestrong are these different kinds
of microtransactions in videogames that use the same
psychology as gambling games doand cause people to spend
excessive amounts of money, and2K for WWE actually has this
(21:46):
mode it's called my Factionwhere you open up digital packs
of cards.
Those cards have wrestlers witha rating on them and you want
to get the highest level ofjewel right, so there's galaxy
opal, pink diamond, sapphire,amethyst, and the better type of
(22:08):
gem is the strength of yourwrestler and also the number, so
a number between 1 and 99 andyou want the rare cards in your
deck so that you can use them,because whatever wrestlers you
draw, you get to use in yourmatches.
The problem is, new packs comeout every week and I felt some
(22:31):
year or I have felt in someyears that the costs of a new
pack were reasonable, but with2K24, I felt like the prices
were gouged, that they were justdouble or triple what they
should have been.
But as the former GamblingCounselor Certification Board
(22:51):
president, it could becompelling for me to create
videos where I say I'm going tobuy one pack, we're going to
open it and in real time.
I'm going to buy one pack,we're going to open it and in
real time I'm going to breakdown and analyze what a lot of
people would be feeling fromthis pack and talk about why
it's important not to chase, whyit's important to be reasonable
(23:12):
and stick to your budget.
Just little resources like thatcould help people to see that
there's responsible ways to dothis in video games and that
there's responsible ways to dothis in video games, and then
there's unhealthy ways to do ittoo for sure, and you are
correct.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
The island is only available for new gen wwe 2k25
on ps5 and xbox series x therewe go.
So note to self everybody, donot buy WWE 2K25 on the computer
unless you don't have an Xboxand or I'm excited for it, Like
(23:46):
I played a lot of 2K24 when itfirst came out, but I think this
time I'm going to play it in adifferent way so that I can
enjoy the modes.
I wasn't really into my factionand I never built.
I really want to build acharacter up, make a character
and like they start in theindies and go.
(24:08):
I think that sounds reallyintriguing and fun.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
I do too.
I remember some of my favoritethings on the N64.
As a kid would be playing thestory modes with my created
character.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Yeah, what's a good wrestling name you would pick
for yourself?
Speaker 1 (24:30):
My character when I was a teenager was like what if
Kane was in D-Generation X?
Like what if Kane was inD-Generation X, but his color
was blue and that was mycharacter and I named him Da
Bomb.
I don't think I would do thatcharacter now because I'm wiser
(24:54):
and realize how terrible thatsounds, but back when I was in
middle school that was the bestchoice available.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Do you remember the game?
It was like a snowboarding gameand there was one of the
characters that had a big no, itwas a fighting game and he had
a big afro.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
You might need to get more specific, Marcus.
I'm not sure.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
I'll have to think of the name of the game, but
anyway, my character back in theday was Afro Thunder.
Wow, the memory box is justopening up right now.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
That screams TV title division to me.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
Oh yeah, for sure, yeah, like opening the show.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Yeah, you could do that the show.
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Yeah, you could do that I so I'm gonna challenge
myself with this game is to playa mode and create a character.
Even if I lose, it's okay.
Just learn how to play the gameand go through the ranks and
see where it goes.
You know what I mean.
Should actually build the ranksof it yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
So there's my rise.
That's the story mode.
There's GM.
That's a pretty cool mode too,because you have to draft your
show and then program the showand see how your viewers and
your revenue goes up and down.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
See, that'd be interesting.
I played a game like that once.
It was called football manager.
It's a soccer game essentially,yeah, and you manage a football
club, soccer club if you're notif you're in america, and it
was pretty fun.
I found out that I'm a terriblemanager and I got fired because
the club didn't win it happensyeah, I don't think I could be
(26:36):
Nick Aldis.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Yeah, also, dez, and I have a joke for Adam Pearce,
since he's always breaking upfights that his name is Adam
Peace.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
I think that we should do a video on us playing
WWE together, for sure.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
I have actually a different thing and we can cut
this out of the episode don'tcut anything anymore.
Speaker 2 (27:03):
This is this.
Is it call me?
Speaker 1 (27:05):
I think so I haven't been putting the video version
on patreon recently because Ihaven't been getting it done
early enough in the week andthen I forget, and then I'm a
day behind and then theepisode's already out in audio.
All kinds of excuses but, Ithink that one thing we could do
for patreon is do 10 to 20minute gameplay.
(27:29):
That's like not evennecessarily connected to the
episode, but just record usdoing that and the banter and
the conversation and then justgive it to them.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Or even us hanging out.
And you do, I do 20 minutes ofElden Ring and you're just
making fun of me the whole time,because I can't roll, hey,
marcus.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
Yeah, doc, I can't roll right either.
Why would I make fun of you forthat?
I play a wizard so that I don'thave to roll.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Yeah, I can't even imagine that, especially in the
beginning of the game, when youdon't have you just gotta be
afraid, Marcus.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
You gotta let your fear win.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
Oh, I let my fear win and I get my butt whooped every
time.
I'm excited to go into thattunnel.
Speaking of the tunnel, Doc,what games have you played this
week?
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Oh, that's a great question.
So today on stream I playedFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth.
We got through so many bossfights in Chapter 13.
We're now at the part whereevery character has to face
their inner darkest fears.
It's like a temple sequencewhere you switch to each
(28:44):
character, one at a time, andthey have to face themselves.
So we're getting into the endgame like Sephiroth is down the
hallway.
It's just a question of howmany doors in that hallway are
going to open up on the side andthrow stuff at me.
But it's so good.
And Monster Hunter Wilds I haveplayed five hours now of my
(29:06):
first ever Monster Hunter game.
What do you think?
Actually, I had a threads postthat blew up this week Almost
700,000 impressions, impressions, over a thousand likes and
people criticizing me for myopinion.
I basically said I've playedmonster hunter wilds for three
(29:29):
hours.
It's my first one ever played.
Here are my thoughts.
And number one was charactercreation was awesome.
Number two was I got to createmy fur friend in my game because
I made my cat, venti my felinecompanion.
The third one is I don't thinkthis is the best monster hunter
(29:52):
to play if it's your first one.
And then number four was Sameas number three, because I am so
lost.
And then four was somethingabout the inventory popping open
during all my fights.
Why is it that button?
And then the sixth one is I'mhaving a lot of fun and I really
(30:14):
want to get better at the game,but people don't read the
comments under the main post.
Nope, no.
Read the comments under themain post Nope, no.
So there are so many people onthe planet that needed to tell
me that they've played everyMonster Hunter since the
(30:34):
beginning, and me saying this isnot a good one to play as your
first one is a ridiculous pointof view.
But I'm sitting there with themsaying they played all of them
and this is the easiest one.
It's the easiest one becauseyou have played all of them.
You massive tools.
(30:57):
Anyway, I picked the wrongweapon for me for my first three
hours.
For my second stream, therewere people who were great
supportive Monster Hunter peoplethat are excited when a new
person joins their favorite game, and they said, hey, you should
(31:18):
try different weapons.
I really like this one, andthen I really like this one.
So I tried one of those otherones.
I tried the dual blades for mysecond stream, which was my
fourth and fifth hour of playingthe game and I loved it.
I can roll fast, I can attackfast, I'm nimble and I can dodge
.
My first stream I was doing likethe monster hunter giant sword
(31:41):
thing Like when you thinkmonster hunter it's the sword
with the serrated teeth on theside and I was moving so slow
that every monster was justhitting me in the face with
their tail.
Not my play style.
It would be like me playing agiant sword in Elden Ring with
no magic.
It wouldn't work.
It's not my style.
It's not how my brain thinkswhen I'm having to manage a
(32:04):
fight in real time.
So they gave me advice, I tookit, I fixed it and I went on to
that post and said thanks,everyone who gave me some good
ideas.
My second stream was much moresuccessful and I really love the
game, but I still continue toget pounded by those OGs who
just need to remind me of howstupid I am.
So thank you.
(32:24):
Internet Mazel tov.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
You're not stupid.
It doesn't matter what you sayon the Internet.
Somebody's always going to bebutthurt and is always going to
say something stupid.
You just, yeah, I just can't.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
I've already solved the problem.
So, even though I'm gettingit's, the waves and waves of
messages are over.
But the second day of thosemessages they were criticizing a
person who didn't even existanymore because I already was
enjoying the game and fixed myproblems.
It really was just.
I'm excited that I'm new to thefranchise.
I've been wanting to join thefranchise for a long time, but
(33:01):
it just never happened.
And here's what I think aboutit.
People are just so gatekeepy.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Yeah, okay, so Monster Hunter Wilds Final
Fantasy.
Speaker 1 (33:14):
VII Rebirth Since last episode.
I do not think so.
Oh, all right what?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
about you.
So I have been playing someelden ring.
I found a new tunnel in caled.
It's a catacomb, it's hidden.
You had to like I had, I wasjust exploring and then I
stumbled on a tree and I walkedacross this tree and I found
this catacomb and I entered itand I died.
(33:45):
No, and it was fun to die, butI ended up beating it and it
wasn't that hard.
I just am rusty.
The other thing I have beenplaying is I've been back on
Switch playing Octopath Traveler2.
I think I have gotten almostall the characters now.
(34:08):
I think I have two left thedancer and, I don't know, the
astrologer.
Maybe I have them left to get.
I've forgotten how JRPGs workand I actually had to restart
one of my characters because Ididn't like do multiple save
(34:32):
files, like at different timestamps, because I got to a point
and I missed a bunch of stuffand when I went to fight the
boss I didn't have any stuff tofight the boss and that was the
save, the save point.
So I couldn't really gobackwards and so I I restarted
that character story and did itagain and it worked out.
(35:03):
It is really hard yeah, itreally is I'm not good at it at
all, but it's a different gameand I'm really enjoying it.
That the calmness of it yeah,yeah, I really do.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
I think if you line up what kinds of goals work for
you, you can play in a prettylow stress way yeah, but when
you wipe or die a bunch in a rowit gets frustrating yeah, sure,
that's, true too you know whatI mean, not like elden ring
frustrating, because elden ringsfrustration is.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
I call that the unfair frustration because it's
so difficult where, like theturn-based combat, if you don't
take it seriously it kicks yourass and you're like stop just
hitting standard attack.
You actually have to read whatall the moves do.
It's not rolling out of the way.
The other crazy thing that I'vebeen playing is real life
(36:05):
hockey.
I played hockey Sunday night,monday night and Tuesday night.
Wow, I had three games in a row.
Plus I'm on a huge project atwork where Sunday actually I
played at 1.30 in the afternoonat Sunday, on Sunday, but then I
(36:27):
had to go in at 4 am and Ididn't get out of work until 9
pm the next day or later thatday.
I went to bed, had to be to workfor 4 am and that cycle
repeated.
So when you texted me yesterday, I was out, cold am and that
cycle repeated.
So when you texted me yesterday, I was out cold and tomorrow
morning I have to be there for 5am and then the project is done
(36:49):
.
I'll tell you what, man my bodyis exhausted.
I think I'm at like 80 hours asof today.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
That's awful.
Speaker 2 (37:00):
It's awful, but you make a shit ton of money on
overtime.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
Yeah, I don't, but that's nice for you.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Yes, for sure, but anyway.
So I've been getting somegaming done.
But the other thing I want tosay is I've really been taking
my time in reading, enjoyingreading again, and I'm reading.
It's called the Way of Kings byBrandon Sanderson.
It's the first book.
(37:29):
It's the first book in theseries of Stormlight Archive.
It's the first fantasy bookI've ever read in my life.
Oh, it was recommended to me bya friend because I'm not really
like a knight in shining armor,like medieval guy.
I'm not really like a knight inshining armor, like medieval
guy.
I'm not a big fan of Game ofThrones.
It's just not my cup of tea.
(37:50):
I'm more of a sci-fi like.
I'm more of a sci-fi guy likeDune.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
You worked through Harry Potter a while ago.
Those are fantasy.
Speaker 2 (38:00):
Yeah, but that's not.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
I guess I'm an adult fantasy.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
Yeah, but no, that's it's fantasy, but it's not, I
should guess, like an adultfantasy.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
Yeah, but no, that's it's fantasy but it's not
medieval times, fantasy kind ofthing got it like mythological
fantasy.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
It's I don't know, it's fantasy, but it's also like
real, like kid goes to a school.
I can understand that there's awizard school.
I can understand that there'sbad guys at said wizard school
because they want to master theDoc Otts.
You know what I mean.
I can understand all that, butthis book is a thousand pages.
(38:33):
It's the biggest.
If I finish this book which Iwill is the biggest book I've
ever read.
But I got to go get it becauseit just came.
It just got delivered last weekand I'm like reading as much as
I can to get through so I canread this book.
But I want to show it to youwhile I explain to everybody
(38:55):
what it is.
Okay, it just came out.
Star Wars, star Wars of theEmpire, the Mask of Fear oh, it
just came out.
It says the Rebellion.
(39:15):
The Empire Reigned In order toensure the security and
continuing stability.
The Republic will be organizedinto the first galactic empire
for a safe and secure society.
With one speech and thunderousapplause, chancellor Palpatine
brought the era of the Republiccrashing down and its place rose
(39:35):
the galactic empire.
Across the galaxy, peoplerejoiced and celebrated the end
of the war and the promises oftomorrow, but that tomorrow was
a lie.
Instead, the galaxy becametwisted by the cruelty and fear
of the emperor's rule.
During that terrifying firstyear of tyranny, mon Mothma,
(39:56):
saul Guerrera and Bail Organafaced the encroaching darkness.
One day, the architect, theywill be the architects of the
rebel alliance, but first eachmust find purpose and direction
in a changing galaxy, whileharboring their own secrets,
fears and hopes for a futurethat may never come unless they
(40:17):
act.
Sounds good, yeah, so I'mreading this book and I
pre-ordered this book months agoand I'm.
I was.
It came out, I think, february25th, and but I'm in this other
book and I want to say I'm likefive or 600 pages in, but I just
(40:37):
want to be done.
I'm enjoying the book but, likethis book is calling my name
and I don't know if I can, if Istop reading the other book, to
start reading this one, I thinkI will be, I think I won't go
back.
Speaker 1 (40:50):
Yeah, you got to finish the book that you're on.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
Yeah, okay, so you're sending me a thing on discord
that says Star Wars musical.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
It's the entire conversation between Anakin and
Obi-Wan.
If it was a musical, it's doneby AI.
It is so good.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Okay, I'm going to have to listen to that, but
either way, that's pretty muchmy week Work reading, a little
bit of gaming.
Actually, I actually did play abunch of that octopath traveler
.
It's really convenient to havea switch.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
yeah, the new switch is coming out I did play another
game, marcus the light.
Speaker 2 (41:39):
Attention, everybody listening to the podcast.
The light bulb just flashed inDoc's house.
He has an epiphany, go ahead.
Speaker 1 (41:48):
I played Disney Dreamlight Valley on my Steam
deck.
What is that?
It's like Animal Crossing, butyou're in Disney.
You create your Disneycharacter and you have to just
do chores, clean up the evil,thorn vines and plant carrots
(42:09):
and feed the bunnies and fishwith Goofy and you just.
It's a cozy game, there's nocombat.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
There's no fighting.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
You just try to unlock friends and get outfits
and build your house in disney.
It's fun.
I got to become friends withmoana and goofy and mickey so
far would it?
Speaker 2 (42:41):
I'm trying to think of the right way to say this.
Is it like?
Would a kid be able to play it?
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (42:53):
Is it on the Switch?
Yeah, I think so.
I don't know if they'dunderstand everything, but they
could do some fun things hereand there.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Oh really.
Speaker 1 (43:02):
Yeah, you have to be able to keep track of inventory.
Go find five of this.
Go find three of that.
Find cooking ingredients forthis recipe.
But it is a cozy game.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
Yeah, cozy edition.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Yep, you just relax and spend time playing it.
You can get some psychologicalflow through repetitive tasks
and just de-stress out of getour reality focus on a screen
interesting.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
That's a cool idea.
I don't know, I think it's mywife's favorite game, really.
Like current favorite game orfavorite game.
Speaker 1 (43:48):
Current favorite game .
Speaker 2 (43:50):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
Are you going to get the Switch 2?
Eventually, the odds are.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
I'm going to have three Switch 2s in my house if
we wait long enough.
Yeah, I guess that's true.
I guess that is true?
Speaker 1 (44:11):
huh, yeah, because I have one.
Actually, all three of us haveone, so we'll probably get one.
To start out, it'll be in theliving room and in my son's room
most of the time, and thenwe'll get to a point where I
want to stream a game that I canonly play on it, and then I'll
get one for me to hook up to thecapture card on my computer.
(44:32):
And then, because I want to befair, at the time where I buy
that one, I'll buy another onefor my wife and then all of us
will have one.
But that's gonna take placeover a 12 month stretch of time,
probably.
Yeah, I'm, I'm not gonna go outto the store when they're brand
new and buy three sure I canunderstand that man.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
So challenge for next week yeah, I'm listening you
get a place of wwe 2k25 onstream oh, that's a really good
question.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
I'm gonna have to start streaming more or I'm
gonna have to just be honestwith my community and just tell
them some games are not makingthe cut to make it on stream
because it's too much already.
I can't fit Monster Hunterbecause I haven't beaten Final
Fantasy VII Rebirth.
Speaker 2 (45:32):
How far are you from the end of Rebirth?
Sorry to interrupt.
Speaker 1 (45:36):
Oh no, that was a perfect interruption.
There's 14 chapters and I'm on13.
Speaker 2 (45:42):
So my suggestion then would be finish Rebirth.
Just be done with it.
Speaker 1 (45:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
Focus on that.
So then you can play MonsterHunter and WWE 2K25.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
Also, I have Shadow of the Erd Tree.
Now too, there's like personalreasons that I have to finish
that.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
Oh yeah, for sure.
You can't keep sucking, youjust need to do it.
Speaker 1 (46:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
Suck less, skate better die less yeah.
Get good Get.
What is it?
Get good Get?
Speaker 1 (46:17):
good, get it.
G-i-t-g-u-d.
Speaker 2 (46:20):
Yeah and yeah.
Continue the journey.
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