260: The Straight Edge Continent
Summary
Brad Shoemaker recounts his visit to the 30th anniversary of California Extreme, highlighting rare finds like an unreleased Lunar Lander cocktail cabinet and a Street Fighter II tournament. The hosts discuss the shifting collector meta, noting a focus on golden-age arcade games and a resurgence in pinball. They also debate the impact of AI-generated FPGA cores on the preservation community, questioning their accuracy and long-term value for retro gaming enthusiasts.
Topics discussed
Sponsor: Lettuce Financial for freelancers
Host intro and cold complaints
California Extreme arcade event recap
Logistics of owning arcade cabinets
Technical details of arcade hardware
Rare games and collector culture
Apollo 11 cocktail and playing Mortal Kombat
Neo Geo arcade machines and games
Pinball tables and fighting game matches
FPGA emulation and System 11 hardware
Conclusion of California Extreme segment
Sponsors: MSI, Factor, and ResortPass
Marvel Rivals gameplay and team composition
Marvel Rivals mechanics and character design
Marvel Rivals story mode and performance
Review of Agent 64: Spies Never Die
Review of Incident at Galley House
Space Marine 2 co-op and patch issues
Sponsor: Treat Alzheimer's Early
GTA 6 Netflix exclusive announcement
Game Developer going private
Supermassive Games layoffs
Halloween game banned in Australia/NZ
Outside Lands festival and band economics
PsyOps rights and retro computer memories
Outro and Patreon support
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