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Submit Your Question For The MinnMax Show Podcast (Patreon)

Published:
2025-08-12 16:50:15
Edited:
2025-08-12 16:51:57
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Hey everybody, a huge thanks to everybody who came out to the MinnMax summer community meetup in Minneapolis. The huge travelogue showing off the trip is being edited right now, it looks like the version for Backstage Pass tier supporters will be around 10 hours long. The plan is to post the edited and extended version this coming Monday.

This week for community questions on the podcast, we'll have Ben Hanson, Jeff Marchiafava, Haley MacLean, and special guest Michael Huber from Easy Allies. 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...

Mafia: The Old Country

Battlefield 6

Merge Maestro

Is This Seat Taken

The Lord Of The Rings: Tales Of The Shire

Everybody at the Backstage Pass tier can watch us record the show live on Wednesday at 2pm 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 Untitled Goose Game on PS4 for sale in iam8bit’s online store, and you can use the promo code DIGITALNOMAD 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

Jump On Everything

What is the most incredible thing you've ever seen in your entire life?

Swansonge

If you could magically become fluent in any one language, what language would it be and why?

Neal McMahon

Name 5 games that definitively don’t have ladders. Ps if I win QoTW, I want to dedicate it to the committee’s second choice!

Poofydoo

What percentage of chance will Silksong end up like Sports Story?

Stevelution

Hey MinnMax. What’s the ideal Length of a single player game?

James Medd

What's the best fictional substance in a videogame?

Neal McMahon

What are some games that you love but you know you will never beat them. For me it is Xenoblade Chronicles 2. That game is so damn big (putting over 200 hrs into getting just 60% through). Another is Assassin’s Creed Valhalla which is a beast.

Fancygraham

A lyric in Chappell Roan’s new single “the Subway” remarks how she wants to move to Canada’s most rectangular province and where I’ve called home for the last 15 years: Saskatchewan. If you didn’t know, Saskatchewan has a relatively low population, but has a large land mass. As such, there’s a lot of open prairie dotted with the occasional small town. Have you ever considered moving somewhere much smaller than the city you currently live in? Is your plan to always live in a city?

Jacob Mazanowski

In honor of this weeks Untitled Goose Game, what is the best animal or creature to make into a mischievous protagonist in a game akin to untitled goose game?

Dan from Canada

Collectively what’s the agreed upon best game that no one at MinnMax has played (essentially an all time award for a game everyone agrees is great but nobody played)

L Stockler

Hey minnmaxers. What is the coolest thing you've ever made with your own two hands?

Shawninator

Because of "Is This Seat Taken?" coming out, what is your best and/or worst experience with public transportation?

That's Mildly Raven

You're rebooting Star Wars. What's one thing you change?

Erik Welsh

If you had to go back to college to get into a different field, what major and minor would you go for?

Jesse Eberenz

Michael Huber Fixes the Minnmax Show: Huber, what’s one change you would make to improve the Minnmax show?

Michael Berry

Do you think there is any chance Tearaway will ever come back in any way?

Katelin

What is your first major video game memory?

Kevin Kuper

Hello all, I am a big fan of different controllers and while I enjoy the big 3s pro versions I have always really enjoyed the 8bitdo pro2 which is essentially a cross between a Playstation and SNES. I love the D-pad and the flat game pad with grips big enough for my adult hands. What is the groups favorite 3rd party controllers and why?

PierretheReject

What video game you would want to make and would you work at a gaming company or create your own indie studio?

Juz10

Hi MinnMax, Which 5 Nintendo games do you think were the most important games regarding shaping Nintendo's history to be the company it is today? My five picks would be Super Mario Bros (NES), Pokemon Red + Blue, Mario 64, Wii Sports, Breath of the Wild

resnet

Hi MinnMax! Just in general, what is your favorite out of: prequel, sequel and remake?

SlyCut

Hello all, What's the craziest story from the bible that you know? Did you hear the one about the sisters that take turns getting their dad so drunk that he'll sleep with them so they'll get pregnant?

Mukor

Hey Minnmaxers, I've just had an offer accepted on a new house and will hopefully be moving in the next couple of months. What are the crew's tips for things to make moving easier and less stressful? Bonus points for any tips on moving with pets.

Dennis Cortes

What were each of your favorite places you ate during the MinnMax trip last week? Any meal highlights you’d want to have again?

Marc Paris

My wife had been looking forward to Tales of the Shire since it was announced. The game released right before her birthday so I was ecstatic for her to finally be able to play her most anticipated game of multiple years. However, then came the reviews. I started to get worried this game wouldn't live up to her expectations. Couple weeks removed now and she's still DEVOURING this game. We both just fell head over heels for this game's Vibe. So I question to you MinnMax panel, what's that one game, flaws and all, that you still love just cuz the devs nailed the vibes you were looking for. All the Love n Respect ; ) Marc Paris

Stay At Home Gamer

Hey cohorts and Huber! Last week, you all discussed meeting online people in person for the first time. My best friend is somebody I met through Twitch. I met him for the first time in person last year. We got so close I had him over to my house and had him meet my family. All my coworkers thought I was crazy for inviting him over! So it got me thinking: what are some things that happen in the gamer community, such as my situation, that people just don’t quite understand?

Victor Pham

What does "good gunplay" mean to you?

Brandon Scott

JeffM, have you checked out LOTR: Duel for middle earth, the 2-player board game? It's probably one of the best 2-player board games out there.

Mahmoud Hakim

Hey Cohorts, happy Wednesday! Games usually have you interact with their worlds using a weapon (sword or gun mostly). What are some games that provided good alternatives for that? I think it’s interesting that that the modt prevalent way to act in virtual worlds is symbolically violent. My pick is Alba, your interaction with the world is by camera. To document rather than destroy.

Seth

You reach a fork in the road - one path continues the main story, the other leads to optional bonus content (think collectibles, chroma, side quests, etc.) You'd like to check out both, but which is which? What signs do you look for? Should it be telegraphed? After much consideration, you pick a direction and lo and behold it's the story route. A cutscene is triggered, the way back is blocked, and the game autosaves. What might have been? Did you miss out on a cool new weapon? Will you be one collectible short of the platinum? Is this bad game design...?

Cath

What’s your favorite kpop demon hunter song

Donald Wieden

What would be your dream "Destination" meet up if you could get a huge chunk of the community together? Hawaii? The Colleseum? Your childhood home?

Obruni

Thank you for last week’s recommendation of And Roger. My girlfriend and I played it and both cried a lot. Her family has a history of Alzheimer’s and she already has a shaky memory so it felt very real to us. I was blown away by how maturely the story is handled given that even good video game stories are often too pulpy to be taken seriously. With that in mind, what do you think is the game that best handles mature themes? If it is And Roger, what would be the runners up?

Shane C

You know how TV networks censor movies when they broadcast them over cable? Do any of you have a funny or memorable example that sticks with you? I remember watching The Matrix on cable many years ago, and when Neo says "Jesus Christ, that thing is real??" when they pull the "bug" out of him, the network dubbed over it to say "Jeeper creepers, that thing is real??" It remains one of the funniest and most unnecessary things I've ever heard. Also, Ben, I think you should scrap the bleeps and adopt this method of censorship moving forward.

Kajkacz

I recently got into an argument with my wife who said that while video game soundtracks are nice, they aren't suitable to be background music.We were having guests and I had Clair Obscur music in the background.I was surprised since to me VG OSTs are always go to for low focus music. What's your take, and what's the best background music, game ost or other?

Dylan Raishe

Hello Minnmax, Have any of you hit a "too many buttons" threshold on controllers yet? The Switch 2's mouse integration and adding back buttons on the pro controller 2 has me thinking about how many buttons a controller should have before they become a hindrance.

Geebeesee

Food-themed levels in video games are fantastic. What’s a cuisine that deserves a good game level? Bonus points if it’s a hypothetical level for Battlefield 6.

Travis in Fargo

What’s your favorite Game Genie/Game Shark memory?

HaulingGas

Happy weekly podcast day! What's the best stay you've had at a hotel/airbnb/resort on a trip?

Frostphorus

Has anyone checked out Drop Duchy? Its a Tetris x Carcassonne rougelite game that I feel like is right up Ben and Leo's alley. I played it on a recent vacation to Aland and it was pretty great.

Danielle3487

I was laid off recently and the job market is currently a bloodbath and extremely demoralizing. Because of this I feel my gaming tastes have changed. I've started navigating to very checklist-y games that trick my mind into feeling more happy about productivity. Is it a healthy coping mechanism, eh, but its getting me through it alongside therapy. With that said, what life experiences have changed your gaming tastes? P.S. To all those fellow job searchers out there, you are enough no matter how many rejections you get! <3

thejjuan1

Hi Minnmax crew. Hype level for Alien: Earth? Noah Hawley leading the project is all I need to watch it. Fargo Season 5 was the best television from last year.

Matthew Hornyak

Hey MinnMax, since Untitled Goose Game is up for question of the week, what is your favorite silly game? Thinking games like Squirrel with a Gun, Goat Simulator, it does not have to revolve around an animal, maybe even a Death Stranding. Unintentionally silly games are also valid!

Charles Davis

If a movie studio handed MinnMax a multi-million dollar cheque and asked you all to make a movie Who'd be doing what? Any ideas on what kind of movie you'd make?

RickyWinterborn

What two game companies merging would be a good thing? Does that scenario exist or are all mergers detrimental? I remember thinking Square and Enix merging was weird at the time and was afraid it would dilute Final Fantasy but it doesn't seem like it changed much in terms of the games.

Steve Bellegarde

Hey MinnMax! I am genuinely curious as to why Mafia: The Old Country is criticized for having dated mechanics when the world’s biggest franchises have not updated their mechanics all that much in at least 15 years. Looking at you Call of Duty and Pokémon

Emmett Watkins Jr.

SURPRISE your life is a 3D platformer now. You'll have to choose 3 different types of collectibles that exist in your world do find. Here are they types: Hearts equivalent: your health bar/number of times you can get hit before dying (think Underpants in SpongeBob Battle for Bikini Bottom) Lower case collectable: something that is incredibly common in your everyday life that you'd find nearly everywhere but still has value (think Shiny things in SpongeBob Battle for Bikini Bottom) Upper case collectable: incredibly rare, but common enough that you'd own a few dozen of them throughout your life (think Golden Spatulas in SpongeBob Battle for Bikini Bottom) Hope yall have fun with this one! Thanks for the excellent shows 🫡

Qax

If you could have a free instant immaculate cosplay who would you pick?? I've always wanted to do Jester from DMC3

hardIIfind

Hello everyone! I hope you're all well. My question is scenario based. You're suddenly gifted at all sports. Which cover would you like to be on and why? Mine is PGA because there's more of an opportunity to show off personality with the lack of team logos, and I collect watches and that would be the only cover I could probably wear my favorite one on. Take care!

Aging_Poorly

In honor of those hobbit feet and Sarah Podzorski’s disgust, what’s an artistic choice for a videogame that you really didn’t jive with?

Sam Worms

Question for Haley - if a vampire were a cop, would a warrant allow them to enter someone’s home uninvited?

Travis in Fargo

If you could change the default flavor in your mouth to ANYTHING, what would you choose?

WavingWorld

Hello Ben Hanson and the CLC's! This week in Bonus Pod, Haley said that she won't share her thoughts publicly about a game she didn't roll credits for. Does everyone at MinnMax share that sentiment, or only a few cohorts? Why or why not? I think it's totally fine to share your experience with a game you didn't finish, and it makes the conversation better when we get to hear from everyone! Thanks, love the show!

Travis in Fargo

I just finished a road trip with my family, and spent about 19 hours driving. The entire time, we listened to the Jimmy Eat World album “Futures.” It’s one of my favorite albums, and it remained both fun to listen and sing along to, but also served as perfect background music for travel games, conversations, and kid nap times. What album would you want on repeat for 19 hours of driving?

Travis in Fargo

I finally listened to Ben and watched the movie Paris, Texas, and it immediately became one of my favorite movies. I had never even heard of the director, Wim Wenders, but have since watched several more of his movies, and a few of them are all time favorites of mine now, and he’s one of my favorite directors. Have you ever gone from not knowing anything about a director, author, or game studio, to becoming borderline obsessed?

Elias Armendariz

Hello MinnMax! Some stores are already putting up Halloween, is it too soon? Second question, what game do you think would define your summer? It could be a favorite you go back to, game you played most, or new favorite game.

Malcolm Holliday

What video game character do you think would give the best hug?

RynaGoGo

Howdy MinnMax! No burning question here and I don’t want this to sound rude but I was shocked at the pictures from the meetup. There was a lot of people there! Way more than I thought, It looked like hundreds of people! Now I’m even more excited for the eventual Asheville trip in my neck of the woods. Also, Hi Huber!

GreenMountainState

Hey MinnMax, Where do you prefer your freezer location on a fridge? Up top, at the bottom, on the side? After thinking I'd be a huge fan of the bottom freezer, I find it to be a bottomless pit I have to dig around in. I'm now nostalgic for the top freezer and thinking things might be more organized up there.

Neill Smith

What is the best pre-flight flight meal at an airport? Factoring price, comfort on flight, and risk of bathroom trips during the flight. I had ramen on the way back from the meetup. Solid on comfort, not over stuffed. Solid on bathroom, salt helps retain water so didn't need to pee on the flight. Price was an issue though, $17 for a ramen bowl with just nori, scallions, and bamboo everything else was extra.

BEEFCAKE

It's my 12th wedding anniversary and I start college next week at 34 while working full-time and I have three kids. I guess my question is ..why am I doing this to myself?🤣

Sud-Zee

While the “Haley wasn’t allowed into the country” bit was very convincing, you still haven’t addressed why Haley and the Rumor Meister have never been seen in the same room. On a more serious note, have you ever felt the need to exaggerate or lie about an opinion/hot take for the sake of entertainment across your many platforms?

Joe Kafchinski

You meet an amateur genie that can only grant inconsequential wishes - something that would be cool but wouldn't have any kind of profound impact on anyone's life, including your own. What would you wish for? If you need a baseline, I would wish for one of those singing voices where, when you go out for karaoke, people are like, "huh, I didn't know they could sing."

Joey Smith

Hi MinnMax, I know this makes me sound like an old man, but what happened to arcade racers? Need for Speed still sort of exists, but they used to be a video game staple. Burnout, Ridge Racer, etc etc. Is the market not there anymore? Do developers not want to make them? I love kart racers and racing sims, but I miss the unrealistic thrill of Burnout.

It's Hugo's Nook

Hi there cohorts! Tiny Bookshop is at the top of eShop's charts and that made me realize that I don't see y'all talking much about these toyetic creatively-focused games like Tiny Glades, Summerhouse and Townscaper. Is that a genre any of the cohorts vibe with? if so, which are some of your favs?

LlorchDurden

Hellow! Imagine a future in which Chillin' by the Fire as become a massive hit, serious GOTY contender, Balatro numbers.. you know. People demand a sequel and you get a chance to pitch your idea. What would it be? - Chillin' by the coffee shop. Same game but in a coffee shop. NPCs go in an out, you can sit by the window and look through outside. -Chillin' by the mall. Your parents left you on your own in the mall while they buy stuff. You got no money cause you're a kid but you can look at people walking by with your friends. -Chillin' in space. Low effort low g version of the original. Not great but cheap to make! -other?

Derek Achoy

Would your favourite movie make a good video game? If it’s already a video game… how did it turn out?

Catpurrnicus

Is the Switch 2 supply out pacing demand a bad sign for Nintendo? Is this a sign that the system needs a system seller game or has Nintendo just done a good job meeting demand?

Roy the Boy

Greetings cohorts! Do you remember any games that your parents wouldn't let you play but you played anyway, either at a friend's house or other sneaky means? What was your parents' relationship with "mature" games?

Patrick G

Hello y’all, What do you dread to see as an obstacle on a putt putt hole?

Will B

Hey y’all, After watching the Battlefield 6 reveal, I was excited to finally get back into a FPS after many years. I hopped in to check out the beta this weekend, and am thankful I did, because I think I have just saved myself $70. I appreciate the time I had and the opportunity to have tried it no strings attached, but FPS’s just aren’t for me anymore. Have you ever tried a demo for a game that you were excited to get, only for it to change your mind and ultimately deter you from making the purchase? Or even the reverse, where you checked out a demo on a whim and had to see the final product. Cheers

Fred Dinovo

Howdy! I have been a MinnMax patron for its entire existence. I've heard all about your Gray Ducks and Whipping Shitties, so I must ask: How has Wild Rice not come up during MinnMax's tenure? Traveling up north after the meetup I keep seeing signs selling it by the pound and I'm finding it on menus everywhere including in burgers. Is this just so normal to you that you've never thought to bring it up?

Mike Lynch

What is your favorite food-related movie/I.P. tie-in? It can be actual food, like Little Caesar's Batman pizza, or items like collectible cups/ happy meal toys/ popcorn buckets.

Xavier Richardson

My wife is a massive fan of both Lord of the Rings and Stardew Valley, but finds most other farming/cozy games to be really shallow imitations of Stardew. Would y'all say that "Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings™️ Game" breaks that image? What about it stands out aside from paying for the "The Lord of the Rings™️" sticker on the box?

Luis Pérez

Was Merge Maestro tailor-made for JeffM in a lab? P.S. Following up on dried mango as a snack, you guys HAVE to try spicy dried mango, it's even better.

whitemex

What's the best wheel? The Showcase Showdown wheel from the Price is Right or the Wheel of Fortune?

MrBump

Kia ora Minnmax, hope you are all well. Big fan of the show. As someone who lives in New Zealand, our country has (sometimes embarrassingly) held onto our connection to Middle Earth and LoTRs. One such example is our local airlines pre flight safety announcement with a little tiny Elijah wood telling you to be safe. I'll link it below, it's quite something. Especially if you have to remember it in an emergency. That being said, which gaming ip would make the best fit for a pre flight safety announcement video? Thanks and have a great day. https://youtu.be/qOw44VFNk8Y

Luca Alberti

Hello MM crew! This week, just a simple movie checkup: what was the last picture you saw you'd give a personal 10/10?

Fossil Arcade

Minnmax has got Blippo+ in its blind spot! The alien TV station from outerspace is the best thing to ever land on the playdate. I'm certain it'll be in MinnMax's BestThing/Best Work of Art after it comes to Switch/Steam next month. There is no question in my mind or this comment.

Badmonsterman

Hey y’all, what’s the best water level not including Nintendo games?

Kelso

Hey gang! What’s your guys favorite bit of promotional material for a game? Mine is the short film they did for farcry 3 with Christopher Mintz Plasse (Mclovin lol)

George Perry

Hey gang! I was wondering, which games (if any) helped shape your music taste? In my formative years, games like Smackdown vs Raw 2007 and Saints Row 2's 89.0 Generation X/Ultor FM radio station exposed 13 year old me to the kind of alternative/emo music that ended up being the foundation of my musical education. What was that game for you? Cheers!

D M

It is crazy that there is a hit Twisted Metal tv series, but no game being promoted at the same time. This seems to keep happening, like with the new splinter cell show, or fallout show! Last year we at least had the tomb raider cartoon + the totally unrelated remastered games a few months later. What happened to all the brand synergy from prior decades?

Dannnnnnnnnnnn

Hey! Someone mentioned on a recent pod that TOEM had a really nice ending. I realised I never finished TOEM and on going back to it, turns out I only had 10 minutes left to play and it did indeed finish beautifully. I also got bored of the techno caveman politics in Horizon Zero Dawn and put it down for about a year; on returning I learned that I'd left off right before the mission that explains what Zero Dawn is, and totally hooked me back into the story. What's the worst place you've abandoned a game at, or the game your most glad you came back to?

Postcards From The Ether

Hey MinnMax Crew, Hope you're having good days. What would you say is the funniest NPC dialogue that you've read/heard in a video game? P.S. I am relatively new to the patreon, but I've been an avid viewer/listener of The MinnMax Podcast and more recently PewPewBang. I just wanted to shout out the the whole crew for your individual and collective talent and for creating such thoughtful, unique, and entertaining content every single week. I really appreciate the unique wisdom, perspectives and personalities each of you bring to the cohort and the community that has formed around it. I can't tell you how many days I have appreciated listening in and laughing out loud while at work or home. I genuinely look forward to the shennanigans and creative projects you release. Anyway, thanks for doing what you do. Sincerely, ChronicallyBacklogged

Dan Adam

Hey MinnMax!

Krauser

Hello crew, last week ya'll discussed what the cilantro of video games is. As a contrast to that: what is the vanilla flavor of video games?

Josh M

Hey MinnMaxx crew, long time listener first time caller...? So, I've never been a fan of calling games "Metroidvania", so I wanted to try out a new name for the genre on you all. What do you think about calling the genre "progressive exploration"? And you could even take a page from devs who shorten things like "procedural generation" to "proc gen" and call it something that rolls off the tongue better like "prog ex". Also, if you could change the name of any other genre, which would you want to change?

Nick deVries

Hey MinnMax, When was the last time a game truly surprised you with its quality/your enjoyment of it? I just played A Plague Tale: Innocence and was really shocked at how fun it was and the quality of it. Thanks, love the show!

JorSneezy

I finally finished the D&D episode of Pew Pew Bang. In it, Ben is a disgusting looking villain who wants to kill the female members of MinnMax. What other factual pieces of lore about MinnMax should new Patreons know?

ayr

hi! how do you all approach game preservation in your own lives and collections? are there any titles you've held onto for the sake of protecting that copy of the game?

Elizabeth Fort

What is your road trip playlist or general vibes? like so for me I listen to podcast until I hit traffic and then I listen to yacht rock to keep the spirits up and when it rains i put on the Jurassic park soundtrack to lock in

Adam Castellanos

What is the video game version of “heart break feels good in a place like this” and if there isn’t one can the Minnmax crew create the definitive video game version of AMC’s legendary preview.

George Perry

Howdy Cohorts! What's your ideal number of games to play over the course of a year? For me, it's probably 12; one per month!

Casey Mattos

I want to say the Elephant Bananza's vacuum power in DK is the most satisfying mechanic I've ever experienced in any game full stop, but I'm always wary of heaping big praise on to brand new things for fear of recency bias and over-exaggerating. Can y'all point to any standout THING in a game from maybe the last 5 years that you think is better/the best version of that thing? Can be a mechanic like mine or a story beat/setpiece/character/piece of game design/whatever! Luv u boos

Michael Dorle

Hey Minnmax crew and Huber! Are there any games that you have particularly liked to create custom content in? For example, in Age of Mythology I loved using the map editor to create custom scenarios and even recreated the battle of Pelennor fields from The Lord of The Rings and the Battle Against the White Witch from The Chronicles of Narnia.

Luketheman5

Hey Minnmax! My local high school is putting on an original school production called “Split” and no, it’s not the James Mcavoy movie sadly…It’s loosely inspired by the game Split Fiction. I cannot wait to see it and report back but it got me thinking, if you were in charge of a high school production, what video game would you adapt?

Tess

Hi MinnMax! What's the biggest award show snub you're still mad about? I will never get over A Silent Voice missing an Oscar nomination for Boss Baby.

Thomasen

Hey cohorts! After coming to both of the recent Minneapolis meetups I’ve noticed the minnemax crew are very charismatic and seem to be good at talking to groups In person as well as online. My question is do you have any tips or tricks for addressing a room full of people that are there to talk to you? I’ve recently begun to do this more for work and realized I tend to word vomit or talk really fast and don’t remember anything I said. Does this get better with time or do you also have no idea what you’ve been saying for the last 20 minutes? P.S. a JeffM’s roguelike hour bonus episode would be legendary.

KayBree

Hello! Mario Odyssey, Kirby and the Forgotten Lands, and Donkey Kong Bananza all feature everyone's favorite mechanic of turning into something. Which individual tranformation across those games is the most ridiculous? Why is it Big Rig Kirby?

Graham Jones

Do you guys think games media would be better off if fewer interviews were done on the developers interpretation of their games and instead people took their own meaning from them like in physical arts such as sculpture and painting? It feels like this would allow for more freedom to discuss the creative process and how to tackle the problems with the game industry.

notweirder

Hey minnmax, if you suddenly gain the ability to do a backflip but can only use it once in your life..when are you using it? (presumably any other attempt after would land you flat on your back)

Scott Hebert

Hey Cohort, You had a conversation a few weeks back about a game titled Dead Letter Dept. My basic understanding of the game is that it is a psychological horror/mystery game with the starting point in the story being a job at the post office helping undeliverable mail get sent to its forever home. I've had that job. Instead of working in a rather nice albeit moody industrial closet, we were in a wide area with 200 people in cubicles with a dropped ceiling, exclusively fluorescent lighting, and no sound except for the rapid clicking of 200 keyboards at the same time. The performance metrics we had in the early aughts were a minimum of 7,500 keystrokes per hour and 750 pieces of mail coded per hour. The way the math worked out, if a photo of an illegible address was on my screen for an average of 4.8 seconds or longer, I was at a risk of getting a talking to. The program we were using would know when we had given enough information to move the post along. I would never know if it was getting just enough keys of the zip code, having the zip+4, or moving on to street address, but after x number of keypresses the image would disappear and be replaced with a new one. The big problem is how to type so many letters and digits together in rapid sequences seemingly at random. I could do a standard keyboarding test and score between 90-100 words per minute without trouble, but I've never had the need to get SUPER accurate with number keying by touch on a standard 102-key keyboard. Some people kept their right hand dedicated to the 10-key, only moving it when those troublesome right hand typing letters came up. That technique required extra time for arm movements, and the arm movements themselves created a risk for typos. Can't have that. The solution was to MOVE the number row on the keyboard. Not physically, just in the programming. Because the program knew how much information it needed AND in what order we were trained to enter that data, the program could determine if the key we were typing was intended to be returning a letter or a digit. That means the number row is unnecessary. Now you can put "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0" over "a, s, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, and ;." Yup, home row and number row were the same physical keys on the keyboard, and we had to get those dead letters coded in 4.8 seconds or less. I only worked that job for a few years before I decided I NEEDED to go back to school, but to this day, I still occasionally type 's' when I mean two or 'f' when I mean four. My question is, what's the longest any of you have needed to unlearn programmed behavior, because I'm at 20 years, and I'm sick of typing "1s3f5." I'll also take any suggestions you have for a cure short of amputation or electric shocks. Love to the family, Scott Hebert Duluth, MN

Jerrod Quick

This question was spurred by the fancy name tags you were all wearing from the community meet up. Were your parents ever going to call you a different name? Could you picture yourself with that name now? My parents were going to be a Hamish apparently. I couldn't even imagine myself as a Hamish now. How about you all?

Brian

Hey MinnMax! Recently I’ve been replaying the almost 20 year old Okami for what feels like the 100th time before the sequel comes out. Not only is the game super charming, it also aged better than any game I can remember. What games from the last 20 years do you think have aged well? What recent games do you think will still be great 20 years from now?

Josh Lamm

How hyped up can you make Huber? Let's play a game. I will give you a topic, once everyone responds, Huber will pick the one that hypes him the most. 1. A crossover cameo character in GTAVI 2. An actor that will appear in Death Stranding 3 3. A snack you bring out 4-hours-deep into a group stream 4. A guest panelist on the next MinnMax podcast 5. A creature appearing in the next Resident Evil.

stairmaster_

Hi all, the meetup was a ton of fun and I loved being able to meet some of you! Following that I couldn't help but wonder, do you prefer being at a function where nobody knows you or one where everyone knows you?

demo_sphere

Heyo MinnMax, what is the best fruit?

John

Missed joke opportunity: I was discussing how “I wanna switch 2” with my wife and she made the joke “switch to what?” How is this the first time I have heard someone gotten by this joke? She wanted me to mention that she is a question of the week veteran (Skyrim vs LOTR impact).

Jacob Mazanowski

When are yall gonna come to Indianapolis, the most exciting place in the world! What’s a location that you’d love to do a meetup in?

Jason Wojnar

What's the wildest thing you've done on a dare?

Nathan Ryer

Hey MinnMax! Who is the greatest Umamusume? It’s Air Groove right?

Aaron Espinoza

What's the best thing you bought this month that isn't a video game? Any cool desk gadget? Home decor? Collectible? A food?

Thorn23

Favourite micro burst game? When u only have minutes to get in a quick gameplay session - go! Also Hey Hey MM!

Joshua Shelvock

Alright crew, time to have a talk. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is a towering achievement in gaming and it’s in danger of being criminally overlooked by this outlet! Here is a game with eye-popping visuals, deep and satisfying mechanics, engaging characters, and one of the best stories in recent memory. I fear this amazing game is going to lose a spot in the 2025 Two Tenns (probably to Welcome Tour) simply because the cohorts don’t want to make the time commitment. P.S.- Lovely meeting most of you last weekend at the meetup! Crossing fingers we get Haley for the next one!

Dan Adam

Hey everyone! Just wanted to follow-up a comment during last week's podcast episode when Ben mentioned Nut Goodie as a candy example and no one knew what he was talking about. Yes, that is a candy local to Minnesota, made by Pearson's candy company, famous for the Salted Nut Roll (which my non-Minnesotan wife tells me nobody outside of Minnesota knows about either). It holds a special place in my heart because my good friend growing up was a member of the Pearson family. That brings up a question for the crew: Is there something that you assumed was a "thing" nation-wide, but turns out was only popular in your state or area growing up?

Chase Ruppert

Hey BinnBax’ers! What is your current hyper fixation? It’s been a while since I’ve had one but with the release of the final fantasy magic the gathering set I’ve been diving head first into it. Only slightly less expensive then pokemon currently

Ari

Hey Minnmax, I'm moving to a new apartment this upcoming week! Packing everything thing up made me reflect on all my previous experiences. What was the worst and or most interesting move you had to do had to do in your life?

Jacob de Mailly

Since summer is soon to be over - what is your favorit autum/winter games?

Mountainmohawk

What is a game that is deeply important to you because of the time in your life that you played it? For me, it’s Rayman 2 for the N64. As a child I was deeply sick (this isn’t a sad story, I promise) and in and out of the hospital. Turns out it was my tonsils and I had to have them removed. On the way to the surgery I asked my mom if we could get a video game after. She said I would probably be tired and groggy after and assumed I would just want to go home, so she foolishly said “sure”. When I woke up and they had me try to speak, I managed to squeak out “Toys R Us”? Anytime I play or see Rayman 2 now, I am reminded of my mom’s kindness and acceptance of my hobby ever since a kid.