PixlBit

Great episode guys. Got to say I thought Streets of Rage would have won but it wasnt even very close. Guess people love sausage fests... 

The Kindgom Hearts pick was an interesting one for Stage Select. I can definitely see it. 

Anyways I'm looking forward to this cage match. Very interesting match up. 

On this episode, that bit about Bing Gordon came from an interview in Game Informer magazine. At the time, they were running a "what if" feature, and one of those articles explored "what if" Sega had sabotaged EA at CES 1992 with Madden. 

Stage Select:

My favorite era of gaming is actually going on right now. On one handy device, I have an arcade bigger than the Gold Mine/Tilt at my mall when I was a kid, and one that has most of Nintendo's arcade library; my three favorite Final Fantasy titles (VII, XII, and IX), two entries in my favorite SRPG series, lots of other great RPGs, as well as games yet to come, a lot of contemporary classics like Celeste and Cuphead... and the big, beautiful Zelda game that my young self always dreamed about. So with a mix of nostalgia and contemporary classics, I'm having a better time in gaming than I've possibly had since I was a kid.

Cage match:

Gonna go with Asura's Wrath on this one. Until Dawn and Heavy Rain type games aren't my cup of tea.

I think the middleground on NieR:Automata comes with time.  While I enjoyed my time with it, but I no longer look back on it with as much fondness now that we are a couple years out.

Stage Select:  I am going to say the current era of gaming.  I have been having such a blast with games these days, Wolfenstein, Dishonored, Prey, Evil Within 2, Bloodborne, Sekiro, RE2...

I keep trying to think up bizarre matchups for Video Game Cage Match.  I think there is an untapped potential.  Sure, fighter vs fighter, sprawling action RPG vs Sprawling action RPG, beatem up vs beatem up so far, but what about something outta left field?  JRPG vs Puzzle Game.  FPS vs sidescroller.  Visual Novel vs third person Action.

Obvious match-ups could be
Second Sight vs Psi-ops:  The Mindgate Conspiracy.
Banjo-Kazooie vs Super Mario 64

But think about the possibilities...
Ocarina of Time vs Resident Evil 2
Marathon 2 vs Halo 2 vs Destiny 2
Goldeneye vs Tony Hawk Pro Skater

Yesssss

STAGE SELECT:

 I still think this generation might be my favorite, BUT that's in large part because of how many games I now own on both PS4 and PC (and SNES Mini) from every other generation. I love my PS4 exclusives, but if we reduced it to just current-gen games, I don't know if this generation stands out as much to me. 

Therefore, I'll go with the GCN/PS2/XBOX era. That was my first real foray into "console wars," partly prompted by the EGM cover about them. Speaking of which, this is the only generation where I pretty much bought an EGM every month until finally subscribing. 

This generation happened when I was 11-15, and is probably the time in my life I was most invested in video games. Part of that was having to pay most of the cost of my own Gamecube for Christmas in 2001, but that's a long story and Patrick doesn't need THAT deep a window into my life. 

What's relevant about that is it made my pro-Gamecube fervor extra fervent. I bought it because it was the cheapest system of the three, my brother already had a PS2, and damn those "popular/jock" kids could have their Xboxes with "Halo being the ONLY good game for it!" I definitely remember it being the nerds going for Gamecube, the popular kids going for Xbox, and PS2 just kind of being everywhere somehow, not really tied to anyone's personality, but ... INEVITABLE. In any case, I was precocious enough to understand the concept of a "user base" and how that affected what games were coming to my lunchbox. So, in some small way, my dumbass 11-year-old self was trying to sell everyone else on the Gamecube. By talking about it all the time. Aggressively. To the point I still blame this period in my life for literally any breakdown in communication I've ever had with a woman. I can almost feel my virginity coming back just thinking about it. 

I still remember being crushed by GCN not getting Psychonauts (How?! Every other damn kids' game came for my console but the one I actually wanted!), elated by how great Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem was, pleasantly surprised by getting a remade version of the game I grew up sneaking to watch my brother play (MGS), and crushed all over again when I rented some obscure PS2 titles like Guilty Gear X2, realized how great GTA III was when I'd sneak some play time on my brother's copy (my parents actually seemed to be in the minority of "families who didn't let their 10-12-year-olds play GTA"), and accepted PS2 probably had the better/more diverse library. But that E3 where they announced Super Mario Sunshine, Zelda: Wind Waker, and Metroid Prime coming out was still pretty damn great! 

I also feel like that generation has had the biggest influence on the future generations in terms of presentation and gameplay. 

Yup, I remember looking at the opening custscene of The Bouncer back when Blockbuster let you rent game consoles and thinking, "this is the best games will ever look." What a great generation. 

Cage Match: 

I've only played Until Dawn, so that. 

You guys forgot an important part of no Assassin's Creed imo, and that's that Prince of Persia (which it was based on originally) might have stuck around. Would this mean that games (especially more actiony and 3D platformers) would be less open-world in the long run? Would Patrice Désilets (the original creator) still have left Ubisoft or would he had been persuaded to stay, and would that have put AAA development into 1666: Amsterdam, a famous cancelled dream project? (https://youtu.be/_WVEo4yXpho?t=217)

STAGE SELECT: I don't really think I have one. As the years go on it, for the most part, usually just gets easier and easier to revisit and find communities for classic games. Some of my favorite retro games I found out about only as an adult. I can play games on a modern system which were released 5, 10 years ago without much trouble. I will say I kind of miss the early popularity of modern indie game development as it seemed much more of an exclusive and exciting time. Now it's a bit of a mobile phone-like situation where even the most talentedly created new indie games have so much trouble in the market. And I trust indie developers when they say, as important as that is, that it's not only just because there's so much competition now.
Alternate answer: The era of the Super Game Boy. You can play handheld games on your SNES, in color! Radical!

VIDEO GAME CAGE MATCH: Hmm, a demigod of manifested burning rage who demolishes other demigods versus not-yet Freddie Mercury and a bunch of Camp Crystal Lake rejects. Yeah, I'll have to consult the crystal ball on this one.

Stage Select: I have to go with the Super Nintendo. It was the video game cornerstone of my childhood. Final Fantasy VI (probably the most influential game of my formative years), Contra 3, Super Metroid, TMNT IV, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario World. I could go on and on. The hardware was powerful enough that the games could look and sound amazing. 2D games eventually did get better from a technical perspective but it took a while thanks to the advent of 3D games. The SNES was the general highwater mark for a long time. Second place, for me, is probably the GameCube, which served me well through high school and played host to my all-time favorite game: Metroid Prime. But you can't beat that childhood nostalgia.

Cage Match: I think I would like Asura's Wrath if I played it...but I HAVE played Until Dawn and really enjoyed that, so that is what I'm going with.

Cage Match possibilities:

-Gradius 3 vs Space Invaders

-Contra 3 vs Halo 3

-Sonic vs F-Zero