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Submit Your Question For The MinnMax Show Podcast (Patreon)

Published:
2026-07-07 19:13:51
Imported:
2026-08
Tags:

Content

This week for community questions on the podcast, we'll have Ben Hanson, Kelsey Lewin, Haley MacLean, Jeff Marchifava, and Jacob Geller. 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...

PlayStation not making discs in 2028

Rhythm Heaven Groove

XBOX layoffs/Reset

Star Fox

Meccha Chameleon

Everybody at the Backstage Pass tier can watch us record the show live on Wednesday at 3pm 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 the Persona 5 Royal vinyl for sale in iam8bit’s online store, and you can use the promo code RETURNOFTHESIXTH 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

Neal McMahon

Hey MinnMax, I’ve been playing Star Wars Outlaws recently, and it got me thinking. Most Star Wars games are rated E, T, or maybe M, but I don’t think we’ve ever really seen a truly R-rated take on the universe. The movies and TV shows usually stay around the PG-13 or TV-14 range. It made me wonder: do you think swear words like the ones we use even exist in the Star Wars universe? Like… has Darth Vader ever dropped an F-bomb when no one’s around? Or do they have their own in-universe equivalents that we just don’t hear because of the tone of the franchise?

Cath

MinnMax is now a developper! What kind of game do you produce? Indie or 3A? RPG? Live game ?

Blobarsmartin

If you could add a 0 to any number in your life, what would you pick?

Xavier Perez

Hey MinnMax crew, Over the weekend I was having trouble deciding what game to play and found myself overwhelmed by the sheer number of games I had on my backlog. So I ended up making a list of all of them (it ended up being 30 games), putting the names in a random wheel spinner, and having the wheel order them from 1-30 and set them into sequential groups of five where I can’t move on to the next group until I have finished the first. Putting the decision up to chance helped a lot and so far I’m enjoying the first game that was put on the list, Wander Stars, a turned based roguelite RPG where you combine words for attacks. What do you all do when you can’t decide what games to play? Do you have any weird systems you like?

Neal McMahon

Hey MinnMax, I was thinking the other day while playing my Switch 2: could Nintendo really hit a home run by making a Pro Joy-Con? Imagine Joy-Cons that are a bit bulkier and more ergonomic—closer to the feel of a PS5 or Xbox controller—but still detach and work like standard Joy-Cons. Then add the back paddles from the Pro Controller, better grips, and maybe even improved sticks. It feels like that would be the best of both worlds: handheld play that’s actually comfortable for long sessions without giving up the flexibility of detachable controllers. What do you think? Would you buy a Pro Joy-Con like that?

Volunder

No question this time. You all did Hayley DIRTY last week. That’s all. #JusticeForHayley

Jacob Mazanowski

What real life location has a game made you want to visit?

Brad Dunford

Is there a game you find yourselves constantly at the title screen of but never hitting play?

Martin Hollis

Hey MinnMax crew - if videogames were to end right here and right now (a crazy thing, I know) and all you had was your current collection and backlog, and no access to any new downloads, what would be your first choice to dig into, with out the need for fomo or keeping up with new releases?

Joey Traverso

Hey MinnMax, What do you think are the chances that Sony actually reverses its stance on physical media for the PS6? While the online backlash has been constant and undeniable, I wonder whether it will make a meaningful difference. If they don't reverse course, what would you like to see Sony do to address consumer concerns?

Cayde

Do any of you non-Gellers know what Bojangles is? I’ve never experienced more culture shock than when I found out It was just a North Carolina thing. What local food chains do you northern weirdos exclusively have?

Owen Badgley

Hey MinnMax, After hearing it spoken of so highly by yall, I played Perfect Tides: Station to Station, and upon finishing it felt the same way I do after finishing a very good book, which is something that few games can accomplish. It made me wonder, what books do you think could have interesting game adaptations, and how would you even go about adapting a novel to an interactive medium?

Jacob Mazanowski

MinnMax is having a BBQ. Who’s cooking the main dish, what is the main, and what are you bringing? What yard game tournament happens?

Michael Berry

I had a question for Haley: in the announcements of the PS3 and Vita stores closing, Sony says you can download your games after the store closure for the 'foreseeable future'. I don't like the sound of that. It really sounds like they are not committing to people being able to download their games forever. I am sure they disclosed this in the EULA agreements in one of their updates, but those are often phone book length and written in legalese. What can we do as consumers to push back on these EULA agreements that seemed designed to make people apathetic and just agree to the terms?

Maximilian Mackinnon

You have to choose one to ban from ever being featured in a video game ever again: the jump button or any voice acting. what would you choose?

Sam Kennedy

Hey MinnMax. How the heck can Double Fine afford to stay in San Francisco? And why don't they move to Saint Paul?!

Juniper Cain

Hi Minnmax! If you could alter history and make it so that all the games of a usually company exclusive franchise (e.g: Nintendo’s Mario, Sony Uncharted, Microsoft Gears Of War) had instead been exclusives for another company, changing all of their games into the same general idea but created by the developers typically under their banner, what franchises are you shifting around?

Mason Parker

I have a nine-year-old son who, for the first time, is playing through the fourth-best Zelda game of all time, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, on the 3DS. He loves it and has declared he now likes Zelda more than Mario. In discussing it with him and the upcoming remake, he told me that he hopes it is not "super realistic like real life." After some questioning, we concluded that he doesn't want, need, or even like when a game looks hyper-realistic. When I was his age, I wanted more than anything for the game to look real, and often didnt play games that looked dumb, like Viewtiful Joe, which I thought looked too silly with their giant heads. My question is this: because of the new incremental nature of graphic innovations, are the new generations so used to games looking real that they no longer care about graphical fidelity and just want to have fun? Also because I know every one will ask these are the objective top 5 zelda games: 1. A Link to the Past 2. Majora's Mask 3. Breath of the Wild 4. Ocarina of Time 5. Wind Waker Love all yall do, keep it up!

Fossil Arcade

Under what circumstances does the final Mario game release? What year is it? At what point does the series no longer generate a profit? Does the death of civilisation happen before the death of Mario?

Willa BW

I've been an Xbox kid since Middle School, and an uniformed purchase in 2022 has kept me in that ecosystem up till now. With the sad state of affairs, how worried should I be about continued access to my library? Is it time to download everything onto extra storage and unplug the box from the Wi-Fi?

James A

Hey MinnMax, I was doing house work yesterday being pretty loud using a power drill on the side of my house when I hear my neighbor, through our dividing brush, start relieving their bladder… I was shocked into silence at their presumed unawareness that I was a mere 10 feet away. What should I hide in the brush for them to find during their next bathroom break?

Dominic Lee

Does discless drives mean that any game purchased in a store will only have a redeemable code on it? Also, what do you think the last physical game you will own on PlayStation be?

Douglas Bryant

Hey Cohort of MinnMaxxers, Inspired by this week's prize being one of the greatest video game soundtracks of all time, if you could have any game franchise have an entry (new or existing) scored by any musician, who would it be and why?

Jeeo Banogy

Hello Minnmaxers! First off, congratulations to Kelsey on that sniper shot into Fire Emblem last week! Not only is she a lady of impeccable taste, but a lady of impeccable aim as well! But anyways, when was the last time you were surprised by someone liking/disliking a game based on their general tastes? Thanks for the always spicy six-shooter duel episodes!

thejjuan1

Hi Minnmax. Do we only like games/games genres if we’re good at them? Janet brings this up a lot. Where she enjoys a game more if she is good at them. This might not be a wrong assessment. Because I don’t like souls games, puzzle games or survival games. One of the common thread, I’m not good at these genres. I don’t like the fact Janet is showing a mirror to my face. PS.: ( for Ben) To sway you and the cohorts. I haven’t won question of the week ever, and my icon for patreon, discord, YouTube and Bluesky is the phantom thief’s icon. You know to match with the P5 royal vinyl. Just saying.

L Stockler

With love, kindness and the respect all animals deserveee 💚

aaaChandler

Hi minnmaxshow. After the tri wielding controversy what do you think about moving to a true bidding system? Every person gets $100 to bid on games or something. It kinda seems like you're heading in that direction anyway, but I can understand why you might like the current system with it's loose rules and "passion offs" Just wondering your behind the scenes thoughts on things like this!

Troy Ellison

What is the first food you remember not like on your first impression, but coming back to it again you turned around on?

L Stockler

Hey! Persona games are typically set in high schools. Do you think they would work in other settings? Personally (pun intended), I think a corporate business setting could be awesome

Best Start Believing in Gay Stories, You're in one

Hey MinnMax, If Persona has taught us anything it is that with careful time management you can not only become the most loved person of everyone you meet, but you can also become the most intelligent, brave, proficient, kind, and charming person in the world. All in one year! Realistically, what is a trait or skill you could focus on so that by the end of one year your hypothetical stat sheet would be "maxed out"?

Travis in Fargo

What’s your opinion of, or history with hypnotism? Have you ever seen someone, or have you yourself been, hypnotized?

Cody West

If you could have any historical figure on for the greatest hypothetical MinnMax Deepest Dive, what figure would you invite on and what game would you choose for it?

Catpurrnicus

Hey Haley, are you excited for future MinnMax shows where you don't have to obey the rules? Because the only rule is that there are no rules. Why waste the poison shuriken on a game when you can use it on another player instead?

ABrownSpot

Ben always says "SUPPORT INDEPENDENT GAMES MEDIA" which is a phrase one word away from having the acronym SIGMA. So what should the 'A' stand for so Ben can save time and just say SIGMA all the time?

Richard Hayes

What’s the best place you’ve hid during a game of hide and seek or otherwise?

Herb Alamo

This is a question for the full “Benny and the Cohorts”: Clearly we are at an industry inflection point, with Sony going all in on digital, and gleefully pulling licenses for purchased media, Xbox having the largest internal re-org in recent memory, Nintendo being themselves ( ie camping out - making their first party games, and having the worst takes on game licensing), steam going expensive on hardware while pc parts are prohibitively expensive for most people to swing … What are your personal takes on the state of the industry, and what do the next 5 years look like in the industry as a whole?

Piet van Rosmalen

The thumb wrestling switch game for the next deepest dive is an excellent idea. Ben, you would’ve had the whole game informer office thumb wrestling for the end of the year super replay competition.

Kevin Meisinger

When you order food for takeout how many napkins should be included per person? Is this determined by what kind of food you ordered? If you have extra napkins, do you keep them or toss them?

Travis in Fargo

What’s cooler: parkour skills or yo-yo skills?

Linn

Hi Minnmax! Take one of your parents, and let's assume they don't play videogames. How much time would it take them to fully beat the story of: Super Mario Odessy, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Stardew Valley, Two Point Museum and Elden Ring? Are we talking months? Years? Assume they don't have any jobs or any other commitments...

Travis in Fargo

Would you rather be able to swim through the air and it takes just as much effort as swimming in water OR have the ability to instantly and effortlessly dig a 10 foot deep, perfectly circular hole once per day?

NoWarpZones

The Switch 2 is a little over a year old now. How do you think it's doing? What do you think of its potential?

Juz10

Hi Minnmax, What do you think will be a longer amount of time? The gap between the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 and Grand Theft Auto 7? Or Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's marriage?

Michael Lane

Hey MinnMax! I recently played a match of Battlefield 6 and was up against a player that was ridiculously good. Looking up their username in Google (which auto-filled "[username] battlefield 6"), turns out they were in the top 50 leaderboard for most kills in the game. This leads me to ask, do you have an instance where you played against one of the world's best players of any given game?

Michael Nickley

Hey MinnMax, what compliment are you still riding the high off of years later?

Andrew Craig

Have you ever had to play a game for review or otherwise that you went in expecting to hate but ended up loving? I only played Pwrsona 5 because Ben said it couldn’t be completed and, as a trophy hunter, I took it as a challenge. Now it’s one of my favorite games ever! I’ve platinumed each new release and even themed my wedding reception on it.

King Promethus

Hi cohorts! Just an announcement if I can spread awareness for a community discord event: MinnMax Fantasy Football is back! Signups are open for the rest of this month in the MinnMax discord sports channel again. No money required, just for fun and love of the game.

Matt Whan

What game have you changed your opinion on the most since playing? Dont say Bioshock infinite

Jump On Everything

Hey minnmax, how many people do you think have actually seen citizen kane? It gets referenced so often as the best movie of all time but I don't actually know anyone else who's seen it

CrabPalace

A new game is announced for an established IP, with the disclaimer that this will be the final entry in the series. What would be the most a) shocking and b) exciting series this could happen to?

Nemesis

Hey MinnMax! What is your favorite game you own physically?

Nick deVries

Hi MinnMax, My favorite movie podcast (The Big Picture) ends every director interview by asking them what the last great thing they've seen is. Due to all the negative news the last few weeks, I thought some positive questions would be nice - so what is the last great thing you have seen or played? Mine would be either the ending of Hollow Knight for a game, or 12 Angry Men for a movie. Which, ironically, was an impulse purchase from the Criterion Collection - long live physical media!

Max Malavenda

Hi MinnMaxx! Not sure if this a great question as much as an interesting thing, but I was listening to a recently released (very good) abstract hip hop album and was surprised to hear a sample of Jacob Geller! I'm curious how Jacob feels having his work translated into a new context and medium, maybe how the cohort thinks about things like sampling in general and if they have any favorites. I'll link the song in a reply below!

Dan from Canada

What year is the last Sony made game for PS5? Harder to nail down the more you think about it particularly if a rumoured handheld is in play and PS6 is a million dollars

Brian Lyness

Hey folks, Here's the dilemma I'll give you all. You can earn 50% more on top of your wage each month but you have to exaggerate your personality by 50% every time your on a podcast. Do you take the offer & lose a small bit of authenticity or stick to your guns?

Max Malavenda

https://youtu.be/5d1t0zgHbwE?is=DVxJwVMgQPu1oqO9 not my favorite song on the album (that would be "I'm Better") but still enjoy it! The sample is obviously employed sporadically throughout, but it's included in full around the 2:15 mark. I think it's a pretty creative use/employment of a sample

Spencer P

Hey MinnMax, With the death of discs for games I have to ask one question about game discs. What is your favorite Demo Disc game/collection that you played? I remember there was one that I played a lot of for the PS1 that had a PowerPuff Girls Fighting game and Ripto's Rage.

Max Malavenda

If you haven't seen it you should lol. Not the best ever but more worth your time than most movies and more contemporary feeling than you'd expect!

Frostphorus

Hey minnmax, Min Min is arguably the most obscure playable character in Smash Ultimate- existing in just one Nintendo motion control game that did not get the new franchise love that splatoon did. So, since those cowards at Nintendo won't do it, it's up to the cohorts! I'd like to hear each of you pitch a new Min Min game in a different genre- bonus points for the game being called Min-nmax, or featuring a character named Max max.

Max Malavenda

Was just thinking about this! And was also trying to think of games based on books besides the obvious (Witcher, Metro, Stalker) and that actually try to adapt the material interestingly

Wajora

Hey crew! Like many physical collectors I was frankly devasted by last week's PlayStation news - we've known that this was in our future for a while but I never expected it to happen so soon... So I thought my question this week should celebrate physical media so here is what I came up with: What do you think is the best official collection of games that exists on a single piece of storage? It doesn't necessarily have to be a retail release, limited or other fun promotianal items are also fair game as long as they are official!

Jeff Britton

Hey Minnmax. With Sony and company moving away from physical media in mind, if you could have one system and it's entire physical library, what would you pick?

Stevelution

Hey MinnMax. It feels like the World Cup is really hitting its stride the last 10 days. What’s a huge international sporting event you really got swept up in? I remember the London Olympics being a really special experience.

Jump On Everything

I have actually seen it myself, watched it out of curiosity. But yes I agree it still holds it's a great watch

Lucas S

Hi MinnMax, Question about discs, do they expire overtime? I know they can be resurfaced, but I’d imagine that can only happen so many times, before going kaput. Will video game discs become an endangered species now??

Unsupreme

Question for ye: With GTA6's weird pricing system, I'm concerned about how outlets/critics will tackle this. Normally, "Standard Edition" means the full official game experience and "Ultimate Edition" is the full game + bonus content, but for GTA6, Ultimate will be the full game and Standard be a partial game. It seems like the only fair thing to do here is review the standard edition, missing content and all, especially since this dilemma is only created by their anti-consumer practices. However, I can imagine there's alot of pressure and FOMO to analyze the full experience of the biggest game release of all time. Which version do you think outlets will cover? Which one will be debated on the 2 Tens?

Toke F.

Okay would you rather hear a 15 minute debate whether Leo or Haley are more excited for the biggest game of the year? What are you hoping to get out of this? Another episode of "Guilty as sock: Minnmax court"?

Duderado

Hi Crew, Does Independence Day have any special meaning as an independent outlet?

Matt Galeza

Hey Ben and crew, What’s the most pointless ‘superpower’ that you’d love to have? I’d love to be able to make all the clothes come out of the dryer right side out. Thanks, ~Matt ccmg12

mapleviolet

is there a european/american equivalent to a japanese studio like gust or falcom, which has 70-200 employees and are able to put out a game every single year like clockwork? (not that all of these games are always good, but they have the ability to consistently ship)

Jack Seage

What is your all-time favorite usage of time travel in a story?

Vilis

When recently talking about the discontinuing of physical discs from Sony, Hideo Kojima seemed to equate having the data on his hard drive with having the disc, saying the problem would more be a purely streaming model in which studios control the data. I suppose I'd be interested in the crew's response to that view, especially since soooooo many games exist now which will never be on a disc at all.

Bryan Tylec

I’ve asked this question before but I am really curious about the answer so I thought I’d take another shot at it. This week, you’re discussing the negative impact that Sony and Xbox are having on the world. You’ve discussed Nintendo and even small fish like Jonathan Blow and Zaüm in the same light. But we haven’t heard anything about your opinions on Rockstar and their alleged union busting, leading up to the imminent release of GTA 6. I know there’s a lot that goes into the decision to cover/not cover news so I don’t hold that against you. But I would love to know how all of you, as business owners, lawyers, authors, essayists, content creators, historians and journalists balance the need to keep your businesses healthy with the need to have an honest discourse about uncomfortable topics in the industry? Your opinions matter to this community so I doubt I’m the only one who is curious about the silence on this topic.

mapleviolet

there’s various things you could attribute to their ability to do this (crunch that we don’t hear about, lack of creative ambition, relentless asset reuse) but it’s hard for me to think of a western studio that works in the way RGG or gust or falcom do

Random Oil Man

I recently took myself to see the London Mozart Players perform the Hades 1 & 2 soundtrack for my birthday as part of London's Game Music Festival. It was amazing - and so my question is, what soundtrack do you wish you could see performed live?

Seneca Kier

Hey minnmax, I was just curious what you think the best “welcome to the building/neighborhood” action is? Is it fresh cookies? Some flowers? An invite to an event you’re hosting? Just a knock on the door to introduce yourself? How are you introducing yourself to your new neighbor and are you bringing anything with you?

RootFunction

Hello Minnima & Maxima! What positive trends (if any) do you see coming from this horrible period of expensive hardware? One possibility I can think of is a greater interest in repair - at least in the PC space.

kajmo

Hey MinnMax, for some positivity: what's the best GOOD gaming news you've heard recently??

Tanner Hoisington

I look at longplays sometimes on YouTube to see how far along I am in a game, and I noticed with 007 First Light the top result has over 3.1 million views with commenters flaunting how they didn't have to buy the game. Is it really cool that full playthroughs without commentaries can live on YouTube? This doesn't fly with movies or tv shows.

ThomperPippin

Hello Minnmax! I'm Canadian, but I always love looking up the regional hot dogs for different American states and cities. Do you all actually like the "iconic" dogs that represent the places you live? Please use this space to settle any adjacent hot dog/regional food beef.

Brian W

Leo learned something from the first light deepest dive and used spycraft. Haley didn’t.

mantaguy

Hi MinnMax. Jon from Good Vibes Gaming put out a 12-minute video earlier this week that explains the different Switch 2 cartridges and how they actually work: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=94CF2YAYp70 Since the video's subject matter will probably come up in this week's episode, I'd greatly appreciate if you shared it with the other cohorts. I'm kinda shocked to see so many people, even established writers I trust and enjoy, mistake the stereotype of what Game-key Cards are as representative of the entire Switch 2 physical scene over the past few weeks

Brian W

What about games keeps you coming back for more and be invested in this hobby so much compared to other forms of entertainment?

Daniel Slawson

In the face of our video game apocalypse and the death of physical, let's fight back with a little celebration of physical games. What are some of your favourite physical editions of games you own? Maybe a little show and tell. Maybe it's a big flashy collectors edition. Maybe it just has amazing box art. Maybe it has an amazing manual. My own favourite is my FFVII Remake collectors edition with Cloud on the bike. FFVII is my favourite game and I always wanted the old Cloud on a bike figure after I saw it in a magazine as a kid, so when the remake edition was announced I knew I had to splash out, just this once. And I have amazing memories of unboxing it with my then 2 year old daughter during covid lockdown and showing it off in the background of my zoom calls 😅.

Jaser Helu

How does the crew come up with their “get a load of this” each week? Do you spend time researching? See something cool and store away for future use? Wait until the last minute? Forget entirely until you’re on the pod? PS - KELSEY, how many terminators would it take to kill a rathalos?

Graham Jones

From the assassin's creed Animus overlay to the Q-Vision in 007 first light, what is the best lore explanation for a HUD?

IdentityCrisis

Hey MinnMax, Whats your most positive experience with a demo in a store? (Like a Target, GameStop, etc)

Luca Alberti

Hello MinnMax fellas, is Rhythm Heave lowkey one of the best anti-Depression games? I just find the concept of crabs juggling macarons as close to utopia as we've ever gotten. What other games lift you from a bad mood?

Aaron

Howdy MinnMax friends - How many (if any) games did you pick up during the Steam Summer Sale? Any favorites? I picked up Grim Dawn & its associated DLC, and I’ve been really enjoying the slightly mindless (but fun!) nature of its combat. Thanks pals!

giuliano

follow up, what games should be considered LITERATURE

giuliano

What games should be considered literature?

James

Did you ever rent games from Blockbuster as a kid? You could rent one game for like five dollars a week indefinitely. That was pretty cool. If you did do this as a child, do you feel like it defined your gaming taste in any way?

Aging_Poorly

Hey cohorts, miss the 6-shooter duel already? Well, get ready for minnmax’s newest game: “ONE. MORE. BULLET.” 8 more games are coming that you have the opportunity to use your bonus bullet on. These are all hypothetical, unannounced games. If you shoot it, you get to play it, and you don’t get to play the others *hint*: all 8 will be certified bangers. No tricks here. If we get to the end of the list, and you haven’t used your bullet, you get to play none of them. Ready? 1 - the third and final game in the Breath of the Wild trilogy 2 - yakuza 9 3 - fallout 5 4 - the next Super Smash Bros. Game 5 - the third and final game in The Last of Us trilogy 6 - Max Payne 4 7 - the next game in the Expedition 33 franchise 8 - Elden Ring II

Richie Carrasco

I have a little personal story for y’all, and hopefully a fun question: Back in 2009, 16 year old me went to the store by myself and purchased a CD called “The Fame Monster” by Lady Gaga. I went alone because I grew up in quite a conservative environment, and I was afraid that other people would accuse me of being gay. At night, I would pop the cd into my bedroom stereo, plug in my headphones, and quietly dance until I went to bed. To this day, I have that same CD displayed in my home, and look at it as a symbol of how far I’ve come. My question is: With the announcement that PlayStation is putting the first corporate nail into the physical media coffin, what is a piece of media you own physically that you are most happy to have? Happy Pride, MinnMax.

Thomas Wheeler

Hey MinnMax, While going digital only doesn’t fill me with much joy, and the state of Xbox seems pretty miserable, why not celebrate one of my fondest memories of digital-only Xbox gaming! What was your favourite Xbox Summer of Arcade release? It was my favourite promotion at the time and some of my all time favourite games came out in those windows - each year it was a real high point on my release calendar!

TheAggroCraig

Hey MinnMax, With the hellscape that is Sony physical game news, does anyone have any fun midnight launch stories? Mine would definitely be the Smash Bros Brawl launch where friends and I brought a CRT with a Gamecube and Smash Bros Melee and hooked it up to the plaza's electricity outside and played with a bunch of strangers in line with the TV sitting on top of a shopping cart.

sandeezy

hi gang! quick question for ben, but all are free to weigh in. On the most recent voicemail dumptruck episode over at giant bomb, one Dan Ryckert posited that Hanson would be the type of person to order cereal at a restaurant. Ben, Is this true? would you pay upwards of nine dollars for a bowl of cereal at a sit down restaurant? Thanks!

WeGoGiant

Hi MinnMax. What's the largest or most expensive vehicle you've ever been in control of? I'm currently in training to become a light rail operator in Minneapolis, and the train cars apparently cost $4 million dollars each. Seeing as we drive 3-car trains, this means every day at work I'll be in control of a $12 million vehicle. Scary thought

Gérard Depar-duh

Has the mystery game Alanah Pearce alluded to in January been revealed yet? She said she wasn’t involved so I assume it was not Laufey.

Richard Hayes

Actually this got asked on the stream already

Richard Hayes

What item do you have in your residence right now that would take you the longest to find if you started searching for it?

p9xm

Howdy MinnMax, This past Monday, guest cohort Kyle Bosman started streaming *Rogue Ops*, a 2003 stealth action clone of Metal Gear Solid and Ghost Recon with a good amount of jank but a surprising amount of charm, too. Have you ever enjoyed a "knock-off" better than the original?

Lauren McCarthy

I was getting so tilted listening to that - they weren't "putting down chips" they were shooting guns! You only have two hands - you can't triple wield!! #JusticeForHaley

Lauren McCarthy

Hi MinnMax - what do you think is the most influential single player game of the last 10 years from a design perspective? I'm constantly getting into arguments with my friends because I see Sekiro in almost every action game that comes out now, but of course that's only one genre. What's your pick?

pork bun powered

Hi MinnMax! All this news about layoffs and studio closures makes me so mad! Aughhh! If you could be CEO of a game studio for a day with no consequences, and all rules binding, what studio would you pick and what would you do?

CaffeineDad

Hey gang! Who are your favorite dual-wielding characters in gaming? Asking for Haley after last week’s episode. (It was an all-time fav episode so far, I had to listen to it twice.)

Steve Bellegarde

Hey MinnMax, With the release of Black Flag Resynced. Do you ever think of alternate timelines where AC wasn’t influenced by Witcher 3 and the RPG games didn’t happen? What other games have this similar connection?

Travis Brinkley

Hi MinnMax, Is early access just a better version of live service games? In both cases, the game releases before it’s finished. I’m sure there are some business factors I’m not considering, but I feel like if a game like Highguard was billed as early access instead of “complete” live service, the release would have been more positive even if the updates were exactly the same.

Yo Adriaaan

How the heck does Pokemon keep getting away with the Red/Blue release structure? I can't think of another modern equivalent that gives that tasty little choice to buyers. Would it even work for other series or be worth it? Every game that splits storylines or has different perspectives would surely feel incomplete if content was barred behind an arbitrary "version".

Tess

Hey MinnMax! What's the best game you've never played? Not even a minute. (Watching/reading about/etc. Is fine)

PoorAndCurly

Hey Minnmax, no question, just want to shoutout The Drifter. Got it because of Haley's recommendation and its on Switch now with a great controller layout for an adventure game.

PoorAndCurly

But its a six shooter. Technically speaking, they should have 12 bullets and be able to fire all 12 in rapid fashion!

David Dubs

Hey gang! Ben updating the format of last week’s episode to allow the use of more bullets to get a guarantee a game, is just a more complicated version of a popular podcast trope: The Auction Draft. You guys could just be given $100 imaginary gaming dollars and auction off the games. This would also allow low bids for some overlooked games (Garfield anyone?). This makes more sense but honestly, I wouldn’t want it. The current format is just the right amount of funky I expect from MinnMax.

Daniel Bruner

I’ve found that whenever I love something that people dislike, I wish everyone liked it more and when I dislike something everyone loves, I’m bummed and jealous that I don’t feel the same affection. How do all of you process being outside of the critical or general consensus? Do you get sad you don’t like something? Do you feel indifferent and move right along? Or perhaps you Seymour Skinner it and say it’s the children who are wrong and everyone else is a buffoon?

Daniel Bruner

They use the word “shit” in Andor! And originally they were also going to say the phrase “fuck the empire” instead of “fight the empire” in the season 1 finale, but it was the one thing Disney requested that Tony Gilroy change!

DontBashAsh

I’m glad to see that there are so many different ways to play the Star Fox remake, but also a little overwhelmed by all the different controller options. Which would you most prefer to use to play the Star Fox remake? Are you an N64 controller purist? Or one of those GameCube controller fanatics? Maybe you’re a pro Switch or Switch 2 controller sicko? (Apparently having customizable back paddles is a “godsend”?) Or are you sticking with the default Joy-Con 2 controllers? Apparently, you can even use the mouse targeting for “intuitive aiming and steering”. Gimmick or a nice change up?

Owen Badgley

obligatory Outer Wilds mention

Malcolm Holliday

Hey MinnMax, what's a video game character that would look better with a mustache? And vice versa, one who'd look better clean shaven?

matteo

Y’all remember Gamefly? The video game rental service which let you borrow discs through the mail like Netflix? Did anybody actually use that service? In light of Sony announcing the end of their physical disc production, I’m sure wishing I appreciated that privilege more when we had it. Okay, but, now buckle up. Did you know Gamefly is actually still around?? Honestly, how have they stayed afloat? Is there a lesson we can learn from their success?

Nathan Ryer

Hey MinnMax, is it ever acceptable to eat in bed?

Onlinesquid

Hey minnmax, Assuming nothing else changed, would you choose a different birth year to be at the "perfect" age for certain game releases. Would you prioritize hitting age 7 at the right time? Hitting middle school with disposable time?Early adulthood with some more free use of income? Do you all think there is a best birth year to get it all?

Jared M

Hey folks, One of the aspects that saddens me the most about the death of physical games is the death of midnight releases for games. What fond memories of midnight releases do you have? Do you think people will line up at their local game store to pick up the GTA6 code a week early? Are you mourning future midnight releases as much as I am?

Rene Nunez

What's the biggest screw up at work that you bounced back from?

Wallet Thrower

Was totally thinking this after last week's discussion!

Alastair

The game awards categories for type of game are action, action/adventure, rpg, fighting, family, sim/strategy, and sports/racing. If 1050 games were split evenly among these 7 categories (150/category), which cohort would be the unquestioned best player at the most number of games?

Shojikoto

Hey MinnMax, There are so many licensed songs in games over the last 30+ years - some good, some bad, and then there are others for you which are so intrinsically tied to a certain game that when you hear it during your day to day life, it instantly triggers a core video game memory. One moment you're sitting there listening to the radio or Spotify, maybe you're watching something and a commercial or ad comes up, you hear the riff of a song and then BOOM - you're transported to the past, feeling nostalgic for a game you played. What are some songs you cannot hear without immediately thinking about the game that it's associated with? (For me it's nearly impossible to hear Goldfinger's Superman and not think about THPS1 or Sublime's What I Got for Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX)

SlyCut

Hello all, What would you say to someone that thinks cosmetic purchases in games are a waste of money to help them understand otherwise?

SenttheProphet

What geographic region or place is massively underrepresented in games?

Fossil Arcade

I've not heard last week's episode, what was said?

Sky Fellowship

Who's experimenting with mushrooms in the Mushroom Kingdom? I mean scientifically, who is experimenting with them? I get they're magic based, but surely someone should be testing what they do. Why a red and white mushroom makes Mario/Luigi super, but shove it in a to Kart and you get a turbo boost. Meanwhile the Mega Mushroom does the same thing regardless. I understand the vidya game side of this too. It was a simple way to show people this was Mario in Mario Kart, so we see coins and mushrooms etc.. But lore wise. The implications make me wonder why no one seems to be addressing this. Maybe Bowser could do so as a plot point in the new 3D Mario, the last one was Cap based powers, so maybe give us a game where mushrooms are the danger.

LlorchDurden

Hello JeffM and crew, Next month is NMS 10 years anniversary if you can believe. This post popped on "hey-minnmax" (btw, amazing new feature on the discord) https://discord.com/channels/633448765533192232/1523051201661501440 about a base named "PewPewBang" in one of the coolest planets in the game, great way to show late game content rather than the same "fix ship, go to space, now what" loop, will you visit? :D

Mike Arnesen

Hello Cohorts. Long time, first time. With the game industry contracting into itself, could this be the time to return to the days of old and more DIY distribution methods? What’s to stop a small publisher from selling Read Only USB flash drives in PS2 style clamshells and pack in cool maps and stickers kind of like how records used to be? I’d love local game stores to have a little more record store vibe with stations to try the newest games like the way you can listen to new records. Or maybe snag $5-10 flash drives with hand made labels hoping to find the next Stardew Valley from a new solo dev. Is this a practical idea or pipe dream. Thanks, Mike in Seattle.

Wallet Thrower

This is extremely Caves of Qud, love it

Joe W

Do you all keep up on home maintenance? Have you changed your HVAC filters? Have you tested your smoke detectors? Checked for leaks around drains and water lines? Inspected your decks and foundations? Regular monthly and seasonal maintenance will help keep your house from literally falling apart!

Kevin Kuper

Hello all, I was recently updating my top 25 games of all time and was surprised to find Super Mario Odyssey had not made it on my list. I consider it among the all time greats but I just didn't have room. What's a game you are ashamed to say doesn't fit in your top 25?

Clayton Carroll

If The Adventures of Elliot's story was about an aids epidemic do you think they could have gotten Bruce Springsteen to write "Streets of Philabieldia"?

Jan Sovis

Hey cohorts! First-time writer here with a question about changing life phases and mental energy. As a dad to a toddler, I’ve hit a wall where I don't necessarily lack the time to game at night; I lack the mental bandwidth. After a full day of work, childcare, and house chores, my brain is fried. Instead of playing anything, I just find myself staring blankly or doomscrolling on my phone. If I do force myself to play, "gamer guilt" kicks in. For the parents like Ben and Jeff, but also for the rest of the panel navigating busy adult lives: How do you handle those phases where you just don't have the energy to engage with your favorite hobby? Did you have to aggressively change what or how you play—like swapping deep systems for bite-sized games—or did you just have to learn to make peace with the downtime? Thanks for making such a great show! Jan from Bratislava

Elz

Hello MinnMax! Any interesting dreams recently?

Dru Marcus

After the first half of the year has come and gone I realized that I haven't played a single game from 2026 yet. I've played 14 games so far this year and their average release date has been 2014. Have you had any years where you found yourself playing more older games instead of the newest releases?

Ashley Dean

Hello! I was wondering how you manage your internal scoring system for games and other media. I tend to think of things as being ‘out of 10’ but sometimes that falls apart - for example, I completed Inscryption and Mixtape in the same month this year. Inscryption felt like a really high 9/10 and Mixtape scraped in at a base 8/10. One game feels generationally important and the other was a fine time for a few hours, but in my head they’re only one number apart. Am I nuts?!

Logan Courage

hey minnmax i tried to play the doom the dark ages new expansion and i just couldnt bring myself to beat even the first level because i kept thinking about the people who got layed off at id due to the xbox's restructuring and the challanges the layed off are going to be facing in this currently volatile market. my question to the panel is this: have anyone of you had the experience of not being able to play something from a publisher or dev you love because of your personal feelings on situations like this and the human cost of it? iv been feeling like this for a while, and this experience with doom TDA and the situation at xbox and id kinda solidified it in my mind and my heart.

Chris Jackson

Hello cohorts, I wanted to point out on the gta6 6 shooter shootout last week, while I do emphasize with Hailey on the triple shot, I would like to point out that Leo double shot the game without hesitation thus was quicker to the shootout. That alone should’ve showed his passion for the game rather than Hailey seeing if she can get by with a single shot. Conversely, if nobody else shot at the game and Leo double shot I would think it’s also argued that he would be charged for the double shot since that is the risk or double shooting early. If two ppl did a double shot at the same time, imo that would lead to a passion off unless if the group formulary announces the triple shot idea. #teamleo

Tyler Carver

Hey y'all, Over the past couple years I've made a weird run of going through entire game franchises like Assassins Ceeed, Gears of War, Halo; this includes the spinoffs like Gears Tactics and Halo Assault. So my question is, what game franchise have you played the most entries in, and what is the best game franchise? Regards, Tyler

Brooke Gossard

Hey Minnmax, I have a question for you all. What kind of games would you recommend for an older adult who hasn't really played many videogames before? My aunt is having heart surgery soon and she picked up a Switch 2 on a whim to pass the time while she recovers. Do I recommend casual games like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley? Or do I try to pushh her into the deep end and recommend something more complex like Tears of the Kingdom?

Parker Aden

In honor of prime “reality TV show” season - which MinnMax cohort would have the best odds of winning a reality TV game show? Something like Big Brother, Survivor, etc.

CptCobblePot

How often are you all cleaning your car? Are you one of those people where you have to frantically clear the passenger seat every time someone gets in?

Josh LaBaw

Are Gamers tuning into "grumpy old men"? Afraid of and resistant to change? The community used to be the "pushing things forward", space. Look at examples like DVD, Blu Ray, the internet for entertainment. Now it feels like old person yells at clouds as the conversations about A.I. & physical media take up all the space.

MinnMax

Save it for Thanksgiving Jokes.

Manuel T

There was no JRPG representation in the six-shooter episode, Kelsey Lewin: What are YOUR 6 games?

Thom Blackburn

What is the culture with air conditioning where everyone is located? When I lived in Seattle I felt like they were in denial about climate change making things hot

Joe Kafchinski

We should make Country Roads the national anthem at this point, right? I know we're all disappointed in the USMNT performance against Belgium but we shouldn't take that disappointment out on the song.

John Peterson

Can Master Chief save Xbox? No, seriously. Imagine if Microsoft announced that the new CEO of Xbox was none other than Master Chief, and fully committed to the bit for several years. Master Chief is attending World Cup games in VIP booths and waving as the camera pans to him. We truly have no idea who’s in the suit, including Xbox employees. What else could they do with this idea, and would they be more likely to succeed if they did vs. didn’t do this? Please take this question seriously if you chose it. In any case you guys rule!

Joshua Shelvock

@Kelsey (but interested in all cohort answers) With Sony’s announcement regarding physical releases, it seems that retro game stores are positioned to profit in the short term, but as the gap between the last physical releases widens, are you concerned with stocking future games? Do you think the third party publishers like iam8bit or Limited Run can fill the need here? Is there any market for small retailers like yourself to license and press games to sell?

Tyler B

Hey Minnmax, I’m at an airport right now and they’re playing classical music on the radio - it makes me feel like I’m in an Indiana jones movie, and reminded me of the recent destination hopping games, 007 First Light and IJ: The Great Circle. They had some fantastic (and unexpected) destinations, what are some deep cut destinations you’d like to see in future games?

Geoff Enright

Hello hello Minnmaxers, With the recent news about Xbox releasing or shutting down studios, I wanted to speculate on why DoubleFine was spared being shut down. Do you think its because they are one of the most vocal and transparent studios in the industry via 2 Player Productions? I mean, they do have an incredible visual presence with not just fans but anyone who wants to know more about games through insanely detailed documentaries. Two bits for your thoughts (inflation and global economic discord has increased prices from a penny) -Groffles

Clayton Dexter

What’s the best game that exists, that you haven’t played, which you know is one you would love?

Zachery Lee Anderson

Hey MinnMax, With Sony ceasing production of discs, what do you think of the outrage given that PC gaming has been 99% digital and disc-less for almost a decade. I understand what people are saying about game preservation and for people who have poor Internet connections, but it feels off that we both champion digital-only indie games while simultaneously lambasting large publishers for going all-digital

Graham Walker

What are some of the best and worst video game names in history?