Episode 105 - Equivocate

This week Andrew brings a very interesting word to the show!  Ben is up for the challenge, but first he has a review of Trombone Champ!  Then the hosts dive right into the discussion starting with literature… Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, and Star Wars by George Lucas.  Coincidentally, Ben gets to talk about his biggest “Jedi: Fallen Order,” pet peeves, but then they chat briefly about constitutional law. In the “official” video games segment, Ben shares the strange development story of “The Day Before” and the numerous equivocations therein.  In closing, Andrew talks about a cola marketing scam, and Ben unintentionally alienates the 2VP audience and possibly Andrew. 

00:00:21 - Video GAMES, a cliffhanger, dream feeding, and the lamest form of time traveling 00:04:55 - Ben’s Trombone Champ review start, complicated math, and Dan’s trombone idea 00:09:38 - The narrative of Trombone Champ, “Funiculì, Funiculà,” and amazing audiovisuals 00:13:02 - Time to toot, gilding and “turd-ing,” secrets, inner 9 year olds, and a review closing 00:19:19 - Not equivocating, the definition, in Swedish, and affordable furniture solutions 00:21:38 - Spirit of exploration, Oedipus’ road rage, and Andrew’s Magic 8 Ball equivocation 00:24:49 - Prophecy details, the swollen foot baby, full of irony, and a bit of a cougar 00:29:09 - The Porter, “nose-painting, sleep, and urine,” 3 witches, and Macbeth vs Macduff 00:33:06 - Obi-Wan equivocates about Vader, retroactive continuity, and Luke and Leia kiss 00:36:17 - Ben talks about “Jedi: Fallen Order,” Cal Kestis, and a plethora of ponchos  00:41:48 - Ewan McGregor noises, acting with tennis balls, and a different century’s president 00:45:17 - Paying for a wall with hurt feelings, on a spectrum, and Ben’s playful equivocation  00:48:41 - The legal profession, for justice or money, and Ben’s looking at you Congress! 00:50:30 - Stuart, brief entomology, the Establishment Clause of the 1st, and Pueblo Colorado 00:55:46 - Line crossing, the story of “The Day Before,” and the Steam page is actually gone 01:02:01 - Andrew recounts the “New Coke” marketing scheme and resulting equivocations 01:05:42 - Not the “Classic, Classic Coke,” lawyers and politicians, and equivocating felines

Ben’s Trombone Champ Review Highlights   Story / Narrative - SN - (8) - You are on a quest to become the Trombone Champ by tooting your trombone, learning about and pledging allegiance to baboons, collecting and trading Trombone Champ cards, meeting strange characters, and laughing a bunch. Audiovisuals - AV - (10) - From the character models, to the song selection, the UI which looks like something you would see on a “Dance, Dance Revolution” arcade machine, to the amazing song recording quality, to the background animations while you are “tooting”, to the satirical poke a EA Sports Games micro-transaction card collection graphics… Trombone Champ is perfectly executed in this area. Game Mechanics - GM - (9) - Nothing new here, BUT the game mechanics are finely tuned and nostalgically fun.  Choose your trombone style, sound scheme, and “tomboner,” your song, and then it’s time to TOOT! You play notes by pressing a key on the keyboard, and you use the pad to control the target reticle vertically on a line on the left side of the screen. You follow the note prompts as they scroll in from the right with key presses and mousepad movements and are rated on accuracy with “Perfectos,” “OKs,” “Nices,” “Mehs,” and “Nasties.” As you string your successes together your “CHAMP” meter fills and your multiplier builds. Once you have the meter filled completely, a celebratory airhorn sounds off; the longer you keep the “CHAMP” active, the more points you score for notes and combos. Based on your score at the end of each song, you earn “toot coins” which you can use to buy sacks of 4 cards to gather for your collection. If you have an excess of cards you can exchange them for turds, which you can use to buy the cards you are missing. Collect 10 of single card and you can “engoldenate” it so all future versions of that card you receive from a sack will be the gold version (worth more toot coins and turds). There are hidden secrets to unlock: avatars, trombones, and sound schemes (including a fart one), AND the “true ending…” becoming the fabled Trombone Champ of legend!

Ben’s FINAL VERDICT (aka the MATH) for Holy Wow Studios’ “Trombone Champ!” (10 * .20) + (9 * .35) + (8 * .45) = 8.75 out of 10… things!

UP 

A near perfect parody AND celebration of rhythm games  Incredibly customizable settings let you play the way you want An amazingly diverse selection of incredibly well done songs

DOWN

There are a couple annoying mechanics, specifically the 100 clicks later in the game when searching for the “hidden boss.”

DO BUY AND PLAY…  If you or your family enjoys rhythm or music games, or if you just want to laugh    

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