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Submit Your Question For The MinnMax Show Podcast (Patreon)

Published:
2024-05-14 17:44:55
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

This week for community questions on the podcast, we'll have Ben Hanson, Sarah Podzorski, Haley MacLean, Jacob Geller, AND the creative director for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, XCOM 2, and Marvel's Midnight Suns Jake Solomon. Solomon just founded a new studio called Midsummer and they're working on a game inspired by The Sims, you can learn more about it here. It's your turn to make the show better by leaving a question, news story, BetterQuest goal, or anything else for us to read on the show as a comment below! We’ll choose our favorite and iam8bit will ship out the great prize below for the winner! We'll stop pulling questions around 8am Central on Wednesday.

On this week’s episode we’ll be talking about...

Community questions for Jake Solomon about leaving Firaxis to start a new studio and design a game that's a little bit like The Sims

Assassin's Creed Shadows

Indika

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

Echoes of the Plum Grove

Cryptmaster

Animal Well

Everybody at the Backstage Pass tier can watch us record the show live on Wednesday at 4pm Central, with an exclusive pre and post show. The unedited archive will be available to view after the fact. You could do us a favor by subscribing to the audio version of the podcast on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, telling a friend, leaving a review, and subscribing to our YouTube channel!

https://apple.co/3lRbzbE

https://www.youtube.com/minnmax

You can also find this Oxenfree vinyl soundtrack for sale in iam8bit’s online store, and you can use the promo code GOTITFORMYMOMMA for 10% off everything under $100. Psst… please don’t post that promo code anywhere else on the internet. It’s a MinnMax-exclusive thing. https://www.iam8bit.com/collections/all

Files

Comments

Graham Walker

What would you prefer- to be tickled by shigeru miyamoto for 30 seconds or to hit Matt booty with a wooden paddle in the booty for 30 seconds?

PouseBanana

What is your favourite puzzle in a non-puzzle game

Victor Pham

Do you feel creatively fulfilled?

Craig Marshall

In light of the recent studio closures by xbox, do you think any of the blame lies with gamepass. Do you think it was a good idea from a business standpoint and if so what went wrong?

Forbin

Let's get dark with it. If you could ensure all the employees would instantly be employed at other companies and thus receive no harm, what studio do you want to see closed/suffer from lay offs?

Derek Achoy

With everything going on in the industry, do you think we’ll ever see the day where a AAA developer makes a Patreon to help sustain themselves? Is there any chance this would be successful, and what kind of perks would they offer? (I want a From Software hootenanny)

TechBeatNik

What is something in game design that you think is often overlooked or underappreciated when you see people talking about games?

Louise

whats the greatest rpg of all time and why? for me it's crono trigger cos it has great character an great story. what more could ya want

JTDenton

Hi Jake! Midnight Suns is the best superhero game ever made, and also one of the few to lean into the social side of the genre. One thing I love about comics is the long running soap opera vibe of all these larger-than-life characters getting to interact with one another. Why don't more games lean into that?

Travis in Fargo

My wife and I started dating when we were 17, and as of this summer, we’ll have been married for 17 years. She hates the term “high school sweethearts.” Can the MinnMax crew come up with an alternative term for that?

Steve Bellegarde

Hey MinnMax! I was playing Gears of War 4 this weekend. The action was interrupted by the task of “Restoring the power” to some object roughly every 20 minutes. That got me thinking, is there any one task that you have done in a game more than “Restore Power”? What other pacing tasks drive you nuts?

Sekiro505

Hellooo As much as I love game pass I have always thought that day one games shouldn't be released on game pass. It doesn't make sense and we are now seeing. We are just waiting any day now where Xbox is going to announce a restructure on Xbox game pass. Me personally I would release them on game pass six months later. Some people might wait but let's be honest if the game is getting a lot of buzz people will get it. The best example is for Forza horizon 5. The early access alone had so many players and they paid for that early access. How do you think this problem can solved?

Alex Britt

You have to fight an orangutan with a sword. You also have a sword. You can pick between an orangutan from a zoo, or an orangutan from the wild. Which one would you have the best chance against?

Jump On Everything

What video game opinion will you just absolutely refuse to accept.

Thom Blackburn

What country is leading the way in different genres? ie. Which country makes the best racing game/ souls-like etc.

Malcolm Holliday

Hey MinnMax, my question is mainly for Jake and Sarah, when it comes to adding features and mechanics to your games how much thought and effort is put in to appeal & onboard people who either aren't fans or brand new to the specific genre? Are their discussions on how to get players of possible adjacent genres to check out your game?

SlyCut

What should I ask?

Owen S

Howdy folks, Which is better playing more total games or playing fewer games more deeply? I’ll hang up and listen.

That's Mildly Raven

Missed joke opportunity: At the start of last week's episode when you all applauded, you should have edited everyone out of the rest of the podcast because you all clapped out.

Dan from Canada

What's the deal with GIFS, are these things monetized ? Feel like this might be one one of those legal gray areas..like is NBC making money off Office gifs on discord? (please do not read this question if people are prouncing like JIFS)

The Nute

Have any subsequent (or lack thereof) releases in a series changed your opinion of a game in your nostalgic memory? For me I know I struggled with Mass Effect 1 but after 2 came out, I definitely thought more favorably about it and was glad I had played it. I also wonder about the recent Square financial news that if Final Fantasy Remake Pt3 gets scrapped would people see these first 2 games in a different light.

Cody Allison

What's your favorite non-gaming hobby that scratches the same itch of a video game? For me it's either a good jigsaw puzzle or tracking stats when working out (it's like leveling up in real life)

Michael Griffin

Hello MinnMax! How do I stop playing Balatro? Balatro has been my comfort game these last three months and I just can't seem to put it down. Even when their are other games I want to get to like Prince of Persia, and FF7 Rebirth, I always go back to Balatro since it's so easy to pick up and play on my Switch. Especially while watching the NBA Playoffs.

Vilis

For Jake Solomon: in this world where Baldur's Gate 3 has smashed D&D back into the video gaming space, do you see a potential for a D&D XCOM type game where you are repelling Mindflayers and other extraplanar fantasy entities from your secret base? Can we have that please?

Ari

Hi Jake, I enjoyed the book club side story in Marvel’s Midnight Suns. What hero or villains would you like in your personal book club? What books would you choose?

Limp Bizquick

What game are you shocked didn’t inspire a whole genre/copycats à la soulsbornes

Loud EEL

Hi Ben and the CLCs, with games like FF7 Rebirth and the Like A Dragon series people often ask what is the best jumping off point for a long going game series. But in your opinion what is the worst jumping off point in your favorite game series? ME Andromeda, Fallout '76, Zelda 2?

actually a dawg

Hey cohorts, Are there any games you know would be extremely your thing, to the point where you have to refuse to play them? I tried Rimworld for about an hour and had to delete it because I could see such a huge portion of my limited human life just disappearing if I continued.

SuperCerberus

How much does FOMO impact your purchasing decisions? I have to admit that I’m way more likely to buy food if it’s a special dish or flavor that’s not always available. Also, for Jake, how do you feel about the way it gets incorporated into game design with things like limited time events?

Rich Lynch

How does one join the MinnMax discord?

dingus2k

I’m loving Crow Country right now and it had me thinking. Taking the art style from old Final Fantasy games and then putting it in a Resident Evil-esque survival horror game really opened my eyes to the ways other devs could use seemingly disparate inspirations to create something unique. what are some art styles that could be cool to see implemented in a different gameplay genre than they are used to?

RabidLime

what show has the best theme song?

Catpurrnicus

What do you believe a successful Gamepass game for Microsoft is? Is it playtime per user? The amount of time a percentage of the subscriber base plays that game? I'm assuming the most recent studio closures has more to do with the games not being played than them not selling right? If Microsoft had a game that no one bought but each subscriber spent 1 hour on but never went back too, is that good or bad. That'd be over a million hours of playtime, but no repeat business.

Andrea

Thinking about Marvel always gets me thinking about the XMEN cartoon series which I absolutely loved as a kid/pre-teen. I also really enjoyed Thundercats although watching it as an adult is rough. What cartoons did you absolutely love as a kid that may not hold up by today's standards?

Catpurrnicus

Question for Jake, do you have a dream license you'd like to work on? Are there specific licenses that you believe would fit the XCOM playstyle that haven't been done yet?

John Praw

Hello MinnMax crew! I recently received update #114 for the Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night kickstarter, which announced that the final stretch goals and physical PC edition will be out this month (the original campaign launched in 2015). I've personally enjoyed a number of crowdfunded games, but I'm getting tired of random usernames or backer portraits in-game. I'm curious, do features or content created as part of a crowdfunding perk ever pull you out of the experience? Do you find this to be an acceptable trade-off to fund a game? Thanks!

TheRealJoeRussell

As we move to our digital only future, what game have you purchased the most across multiple consoles? For me, I’ve bought Dragon Ball Fighter Z on Switch, Steam, PS4, and PS5 (upgrade). P.S. I got my first print issue of Game Informer and I love it!

milo.again

if the other hosts of minnmax (besides jacob) could pick a game to cover on something rotten, what game would they pick?

Travis in Fargo

Is it ever okay to tell someone you had a dream about them? Or is it always weird?

Scobu

I was just thinking about how game journalists don't seem to be thought of as major celebrities despite being known by tons of people. This made me start thinking of different levels of celebrity and how even big celebrities are people who have interests, much like the rest of us. Many of them are even known video game lovers. If they want more information on games or want to follow industry news, they would need to follow a game site. Although it seems pretty rare to hear about a celebrity mention a game site or journalist that they follow. I'm wondering why this is and curious who you think is the biggest celebrity that you think (or know) follows you?

Nate Voris

Big fan of Jake Solomon, super excited to see his team tackle a new genre! In a recent interview you mentioned Stephen King books and Gilmore Girls as examples of small town community connections being ideal for drama. Are you hoping this new game will create similar emergent narrative moments for players that xcom did or will there be something more like written/structured narrative events? You also mentioned the importance of communication around this project and building a community, are you considering an early access launch? What is the thought process like behind deciding how to message and launch this new game?

Joshua Novalis

Hey MinnMaxers! If you could take one game mechanic and transplant it into another game, what would it be?

Zachery Lee Anderson

Hey Minnmax! I have decided to learn Japanese and I was wondering if any of have any tips or recommendations for useful resources, textbooks, etc.?

Aging_Poorly

I’m so impressed with how fun Animal Well is despite the lack of combat. Any other adventure games you’d recommend where the primary gameplay mechanic isn’t killing stuff?

Justin Ray

What was your most emotional video game related memory?

Bubba the Love Sponge

Hello Ben and the CLCs! I sometimes find myself strangely nostalgic for the early days of Covid. Very few responsibilities, not knowing the day of the week, no reason to go to sleep at a reasonable time… Some of my best gaming sessions of Destiny 2, Fallout 76, Ghost of Tsushima and the Last of Us 2 took place then. Do any of y’all ever find yourselves reminiscing on the simplicity of life from that strange time or am I nuts?

BEEFCAKE

What's your favorite abandoned hobby?

Poofydoo

So last week’s episode I noticed Ben adjusted the mic for a fellow cohort. This made me think in the past how Ben would always call out background noises. What percentage of your brain is on the program versus percentage on the podcast quality?

Tess

Do you have any favorite vocab you learned from games?

thejjuan1

Hello minnmax crew. Square Enix just announced they are ditching exclusive games, due to the lower sales expectations of FF7 rebirth and FF16. Is this the end of console exclusive games from third parties? Other examples like deathloop being on PS5 for a year, or immortality on Xbox only.

Joshua Ayers

Hey Ben and co - in your life, what game has lost the most real estate in the sphere of gaming conversation? I say Half-Life 2! If that's easy mode, what game gained the most real estate? If THAT'S easy mode too, do you think we've already been exposed to the next big thing and we just don't know it yet (VR?)? Or is something going to take us by surprise? (feel free to abbreviate this if necessary 🫠)

Max B-Z

I’m only able to find my job of negotiating with vendors interesting when I think of it as a deep 4x game. Possibly an Alpha Centauri sequel. It’s tricked my brain into thinking my job is fun and challenging. Anyone else think of necessary life tasks in terms of video games just to keep doing them?

Graham Jones

This is a question for Sarah... What are your thoughts on the new Lord of the rings animal crossing like game "Tales of the Shire"? Do you think it will be worthwhile or should we bury it away in a hobbit hole with gollum?

Paul Keener III

Sup? If you were handier, what would you build? I've always wanted to make one of those coffee table sized NES controllers, but I'd need to level up the carpentry skills to do so. What creations would you birth into existence if you had the time and know how?

Jared Piers

Hey Minnmax, have you ever gotten emotionally invested in a fictional relationship? Like, where you genuinely cared wether or not two fictional characters got together/ stayed together?

Evin Watson

City of Heroes has always stood out in my memory as a story of trademark protection being used to bully a small developer. I was excited to learn that early this year a fan server was approved. Does Haley know any of the details of the lawsuit that brought down City of Heroes more than a decade ago and why it is allowed back through this fan server?

Jason Wojnar

Do you have any strategies for avoiding throwing a tantrum from dying too much in a game? I started putting on a podcast after a hard boss beats me 3 or 4 times. It relaxes me a bit so I don't get too tensed up and mess up the timing in FromSoft games. It also helped immensely in Cuphead.

Shimmy Neutron

Hey Journalino's, industry question. There's alot of talk about Sony games coming to PC for extra growth. But how are PC players counted as far as growth opportunities? I read in one place there are a billion PC players, then I Google steam active monthly users and it was around 30-40 million. How? I would've thought everyone who games on PC games through steam, don't ppl get pissy when games don't release there? How large is the group of people Sony may be trying to appeal to next?

Sam Kennedy

If video killed the radio star, then who's going to kill the video star?

Stevelution

You can put any game into Room 101, never to be seen again, what are you picking?

demo_sphere

Am I allowed to ask this question?

Andreas Jensen

Have you ever had a weird or specific reason for not liking a game? For example, I love JRPG's, but could't get more than a few hours into Dragon Quest 11 because of its incredibly bad battle theme. PS. Midnight Suns is one of the best and most underated games in recent years!

ProcyonNumber6

Hey Benn and Friennds, On a scale of Doom guy to Nathan Drake, how much self talk do you do in a given day?

SirCrouchALot

What is a skill you wish to improve? And what would you do with that improved skill?

Jake

If you could know anything about your life after you die what would it be? I’d want to know the closest ive been to a celebrity without being aware.

D M

When Night Trap for Sega CD was released, there was a lot of drama/controversy around it and led to the creation of the ESRB with the game getting the first "M" rating for "simulated violence" - but when the game was released for switch in 2017, and also with the new PS5 release - the new versions have been changed to a "T" rating for simply having "violence". Re-rating games and movies appears to be a complicated process that can vary in different countries, but are there any other games that should also have their ratings changed?

Cath

Why is fallout 76 so fun to play when it wasn’t in 2018?

Josh Ellis

When you don’t want to have to choose what you’re eating and you’ve run out of your subscription boxes what is the best dish that you can phone in at this point?

Dru Marcus

Hello CLCs! My home office is going to be taken over by a nursery since I am having my first child this year. I’m going to combine my work from home standing desk with my PS5 and Switch gaming setup. My office will be in our sun room which is out in the open for visitors to see. I want to keep things tidy and organized as possible. My ask of the group is if they have any tips for organizing their setups or if they recommend any specific products? Side note: I would enjoy a New Show + where the cohorts show their setups from the other side of the camera or you review community submissions. Thanks for all you do 💜

Crayter

Do you think gamers will be done with RGB soon? Seems like more recent "gamer" focused electronics are maybe starting to move away from unicorn vomit toward a more sleek almost "apple" like aesthetic. Am I nuts? Yall like RGB?

WeGoGiant

Hey, MinnMax. What's an opinion you have that you think would split the MinnMax Discord server perfectly in half (half agree with you, half disagree)? I did this with some friends recently and the best result (most even split) was "bugs are cool".

Daniel Doran

Hey folks, it was my first time ever listening to DnD and I gotta say it was good fun. But, missed joke opportunity. When Cornelius' legs were lopped off his dying last words should have been, "My grandmother would be so proud...she was the only one who believed in my acting ability. She told me, "break a leg little 'Corny" break a leg. Well, grandma, they were broken for one second and then entirely lopped off, I love you grandma..." [END SCENE]

Andrew Clabaugh

Hey MinnMax crew, since most of the diehards are on this week I wanted to ask, have any of y'all gotten around to checking out Twin Peaks since finishing Alan Wake 2, and if so, what'd ya think!? Knowing how much you guys loved that game and its tone, I can only imagine you'll fall head over heels for it. For my money the show, and in particular the most recent season "The Return", is one of the greatest works of art of all time. Would love to hear a Max Spoilers episode on it someday!

Oliver Watts

Last year I picked up a backbone for my phone so that I could do more gaming on the go. Since then I have been enjoying a lot of titles including Oxenfree 2 and Chrono Trigger (and having none of the issues that Kyle was having on the deepest dive) among others. I am finding that this is comparable to playing on my switch. What are your thoughts on the future of mobile gaming considering we are seeing more and more “mainstream” games appearing on the platforms.

Anna Ratliff

Hey Minnmax! I screamed when Haley revealed on Bonus Pod that a new Nancy Drew game from HER interactive was released! I have also played all of the Nancy Drew games as a girl growing up in the 90s and have been waiting for years for a new game to be released! I haven’t played the newest game yet, but it made me think about when I was a kid and embarrassed to tell people how much I loved the Nancy Drew games. Do any of you have a game or games that you were embarrassed to say you liked in the past but now completely embrace it?? Love to be representing the small percentage of women supporting MinnMax!!!

Bob Buel

What's the best bench in video games?

Joe Dean

The one year anniversary of Tears of the Kingdom was this past Sunday. I celebrated by finally finishing the game after 525 hours. Do you think you will ever return to your TOTK save or do you think you're satisfied with the time you put into it?

Chandler

Hey minnmax I'm excited about your guest! Can you ask Jake what his favorite XCOM-like game is? Xcom is the gold standard for me so I'd love to hear what games he loves I don't want to only focus on his past though so can you also ask him if he has any insight on balancing the amount of simulation vs player agency in a sims type game? It seems tough

sn00zer

Indika really struck a chord with me as it tackles subjects that are close to me personally like the internal struggle of a crisis of faith and Christian guilt. Indika also resolves it's plot in a really interesting way that left me thinking about it for days after I finished. What games really struck a chord with you because they were tackling a subject that was close to you?

Victor Hensley

Hey MinnMax! We’ve already gotten (or will soon get) games like Little Kitty Big City, Squirrel with a Gun, and Untitled Goose Game…but what overlooked animal do you passionately believe should be the protagonist of its own game? What would it look like?

wittynicknamehere .

Assembled cohorts, I'm currently replaying Hellblade: Senua's Saga in preparation for the sequel next week. It remains a clever and nuanced exploration of mental illness. For whatever ridiculous reason, when I originally played through this game in 2017 I ignored the suggestion to wear headphones, and I truly have no idea why, nor any credible defense to mount here. That game's audio design is EVERYTHING, and the feeling of inhabiting Senua's head as she is bombarded on all sides by constant, oftentimes contradictory, intrusive thoughts is simply impossible to appreciate fully without headphones. I'm really glad I finally did it right, and it brings me to this question: can any of you think of another game which depends so much on HOW you play it, in order for its ideas to fully be realized? And no, "the plastic guitar for Guitar Hero" is cheating.

Luca Alberti

Hello Minnmaxers and Jake (big fan of XCOM and it's stepchild Mario+Rabbids)! What game do you think has the best underrated artstyle? I often think about BotW and how its artstyle put an end to a decade-long debate between cartoony and realistic syle, so while the game has been praised to death for other elements, the art direction kinda flies under the radar.

resnet

What's up MinnMax crew and Jake! A question mostly for Jake but please feel free to jump on in: does your game design work affect how you design or structure your own personal life in any fun or unexpected way?

LlorchDurden

too meta maybe but when did this HYPE for NS+ (twitter) polls start? You got me sitting there no kidding for like 10 minutes deciding what to vote for. On one hand, Leo's mention to his shop in FO76 may have been the only thing ever that got my attention for that game BUT Kelsey's Console Repair second episode? How can you say no to that? Happy we got both, literally minnmaxing the outcome.

Ravelle

Hey Crew! I'm finally able to some FF Rebirth after finishing Remake, the original and Crisiscore and catching up to the Deepdive and you discussed that mere minutes was often stretched in to a few hours and that the Mythril mines weren't needed, to take an example. As someone who recently finished the orginal, it's easy to forget that that the orginal had random encounters every 2 steps, which got really tiresome if you want try to find which way to go on the sometimes confusing pre-renderedd cutscenes. I'll take an hour an hour extra where I can see the enemies over stepping on rakes every other step!

HaulingGas

Hey Midwesterners and the rest, I thought I'd share a little factoid I learned the other day to brighten up your warm summer days! So we all love and appreciate oxygen, right? Some might say you can't live without it! What if I told you that oxygen is a poison that is slowly killing our bodies and it takes 75-100 years for it to do so? In fact, the oxidization of our cells is the very reason for the hard limit to our lifetime. So next time you go out into nature, make sure you take a deep-- I mean, take SHALLOW breaths. Just make sure not to panic and hyperventilate!

Felix davin

Hey Minnmax with two n. If your full name had to be part of a game title as official identity for the rest of your life, what would it be ? A few examples : Deliver Us Marschiafava, Ryse Benhanson of Rome, Sarahpodzorskinectimals, Supermarleovader Bros Wonder, Kyle Silent Hilliard. Bises et bonne journée !

Ollie Clay

Hey gang! What moment from your life do you wish you had a photo of? Something with great emotion attached or maybe just proof that you did that unbelievable trick shot?

Justin Chen

Dear Minn Max and Jake, We are now over a decade removed from StarCraft 2 heart of the swarm. The rts as a mainstream video game genre has been effectively over since then, and even MOBAs are growing long in the tooth. What do yall think is the next horizon for video games that involve clicking around on a screen to command a little dude?

Zane Dukes

Hi! What are some irresponsible predictions for summer game fest? What is an irresponsible prediction? Why that’s a prediction based off of vibes not reason. A bold prediction would be “Nintendo gives a small teaser about x” because of the rumors we’ve heard, but an irresponsible prediction would be “Nintendo is going multi platform” because of some itching feeling you have. Let’er rip!

BurntWizard

Hey MinnMax and guests! Does anyone remember Phil Spencer saying he takes responsibility for the state Redfall released in? Considering Arcane Austin were let go in the aftermath, what did that mean? Do you think there were any consequences behind the scenes? And what does it mean for Microsoft's credibility in the future?

One One

When my hands are full or dirty, I found using my nose to be quite helpful controlling my Apple Watch. Mainly for pausing podcasts I suppose. Have you ever used your nose for something unexpected?

John Ford

How are (if they are) PS+ and GamePass and the like planning to avoid the enshittification cycle, or is enshittification inevitable? For the tremendous consequences this will have on the gaming industry, I don't see a lot of discussion of it in that framing.

Admiral Ackbar's Snackbar

Hi MinnMax and Jake, XCOM and XCOM2 were my first forays into the unique type of strategy these games provided. I fell in love specifically around the stories that I felt like were unique to me during my ironman runs. I still think fondly of my Happy Days inspired Squad taking on the alien menace including the heroic sacrifice by Fonzie to lay down covering fire in order to beat the final mission in XCOM: enemy unknown. My question to you is what’s your fondest personal memory you have of your time in a turn-based tactics game? Is it the ability to name characters after friends and family and just enjoy the world? Share some good times!

Goblincow

What’s up MinnMax, last week you discussed Funko Fusion on the pod. As we know for a fact that everyone who has ever appeared on this podcast is a devoted Funko Sicko, I am delighted to inform you all of another Funko Pop (with the serial numbers filed off) game called IMMORTAL Pop!bat 2: funK.O. (Definitive Edition), a tabletop war game of empty-eyed vinyl bobbleless bobbleheads by a TTRPG designer friend of mine (Rathayibacter on itch.io)! It’s pretty cool! With that in mind: if you had to pick any weirdly specific character to lead you to victory against an army of landfill-destined vinyl husks, which would you choose – and why is it Heisenberg Breakingbad with a body made of solid blue meth but his glasses, goatee and hat are unchanged – that’s a real one btw!

Farmtruck

I enjoyed and learned a lot from the episode with Lana Bachynski. I listen when I commute so when I get home I found the section on being a leader and took notes. Great stuff.