The Insert Credit Show

As has become tradition, Insert Credit ranks the best games of all time. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

Digital Eclipse

Final Fantasy VIII

“If I die here alone, a miserable death, no one will bother to pick up my bones.”

Sonic the Hedgehog

Arator the Redeemer

World of WarCraft

Demonschool

Ryu Number

#IDARB

Street Fighter: 30th Anniversary Collection

Aetherdrift

Bestow Greatness (the supposed Ash card)

Johnny Silverhand

Yakuza 0

EarthBound

Super Mario Bros. 3

Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei

Doom

OutRun: Online Arcade

Silent Hill

1: Frank’s Mom’s Favorite Game (08:56)

Super Mario series

2: Ash’s Cousin Eric’s Favorite Game (14:07)

Ms. Pac-Man

Sega Genesis

Mortal Kombat series

Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures

3: Brandon’s Partner Christina’s Favorite Game (19:45)

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Nintendo DS

Grand Theft Auto series

Game Boy Advance

Ivy the Kiwi?

4: Frank’s Co-host Ash’s Favorite Game (25:08)

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Overwatch

Bayonetta

Sonic the Hedgehog Part II

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles

Sega Technical Institute

Mark Cerny

5: Ash’s Friend Nicki’s Favorite Game (34:34)

Pokémon Red Version

The Vision of Escaflowne

ACen

Pokémon Blue Version

Sega Game Gear

MissingNo

Sailor Moon

Street Sharks

Pikachu

6: Brandon’s Dad’s Favorite Game (39:52)

Military Madness

TurboGrafx-16

Famicom Wars

Advance Wars

Neutopia

Legend of Zelda series

Tetris

Spelling Bee

Sub Hunt

PalmPilot

Atari 2600

Circus

7: Frank’s Best Friend and Editor Esper’s Favorite Game (45:31)

Drifting Off with Joe Pera: A Sleep Podcast

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Final Fantasy VII

Phil Salvador

Sega Saturn

Final Fantasy VII: Remake

Barrett Wallace

Final Fantasy Got It Right With Two Black Fathers

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

8: Ash’s Friend Will’s Favorite Game (55:34)

Karazhan

Ventrillo

Hikikomori

Elwynn Forest

Dreadsteed

9: Brandon’s Friend Scott’s Favorite Game (01:04:38)

Final Fantasy VI

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Record of Lodoss War

La Blue Girl

Nobuo Uematsu

10: Frank’s Friend Lucy’s Favorite Game (01:11:42)

Mass Effect 2

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Fallout: New Vegas

11: Ash’s Cousin Jason’s Favorite Game (01:24:29)

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai

Dragon Ball Z

Vegeta

Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball Super

12: Brandon’s Former Coworker Christian’s Favorite Game (01:32:36)

Ys: Book I & II

Tengai Makyō: Ziria

Bump System

The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls

13: Frank’s Wife Amanda’s Second Favorite Game (01:38:38)

Kickle Cubicle

Irem

R-Type series

Disaster Report series

Adventures of Lolo

14: Ash’s Husband Travis’s Favorite Game (01:42:33)

Contra III: The Alien Wars

Mana series

Castlevania: Bloodlines

Contra Hard Corps

Weenie Hut Jr’s

Super Castlevania IV

UFO 50

15: Brandon’s College Friend and Insert Credit Co-Founder Vincent’s Favorite Game (01:47:42)

Metaphor: ReFantazio

Puyo Puyo Sun

Bubble Bobble

Puzzle Bobble

16: Frank’s Pal Ian’s Favorite Game (01:52:31)

Killer7

Suda51

Cam Clarke

Resident Evil 4

No More Heroes

Shadows of the Damned

17: Ash’s Sister Alexis’s Favorite Game (01:59:53)

Uno No Mercy

Connect Four

Kingdom Hearts

Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit

Disney Channel

No Strings Attached

Katamari Damacy

18: Brandon’s Friend Chaz’s Favorite Game (02:06:00)

Shining Force II

N-Gage

19: Frank’s Other Friend Ian’s Favorite Game (02:10:48)

Super Mario World

Kaizo

Super Mario Maker

Disneyland

Walt Disney World

20: Ash’s Best Friend Abby’s Favorite Game (02:17:11)

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Baldur’s Gate series

Alistair

Sid Meier’s Civilization series

Cullen Rutherford

Miscegenation

21: Brandon’s Coworker Tara’s Favorite Game (02:28:43)

Aces Wild: Manic Brawling Action!

NieR: Automata

NieR

PlatinumGames Inc.

Final List (02:28:43)

View the finalized list right here!

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The panel reviews Mr. Bones, a Sega Saturn classic featuring frustrating design choices, a certain comedy level, and skeletism.

Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

SHOW NOTES:

“Oh, there go all my bones!”

Mr. Bones

Bonk series

1: How did we get here? (03:57)

Sega Saturn

Star Trek

Awesome Games Done Quick

January 6 United States Capitol attack

Mr. Bones by Lizstar in 1:12:00

Boneitis

LSD: Dream Emulator

Game Boy Color

Game Gear

Street Fighter series

PlayStation

Sega Genesis

Sega Dreamcast

Ronnie Montrose

Ed Anunziatta

Sinners (2025)

Paul Pena

Bastion

2: What are the good versions of the ideas presented in this game? (27:20)

Tempest

Vectorman series

Arzette: the Jewel of Faramore

Fitz Houston

Seinfeld

Contra series

3: Brenton Woodrow asks, which Saturn or Dreamcast game that never had a sequel is best suited for a sequel in 2021? (37:02)

Burning Rangers

Magic Knight Rayearth

Sonic R

Richard Jacques

Sonic & All-Stars Racing series

Powerslave

Black Fire

Metroid Prime

Final Fantasy II

Last Bronx

Shining Force series

Panzer Dragoon Saga

Rick Moranis

Clockwork Knight

Dark Savior

4: If not Mr. Bones, what’s the best skeleton in a video game? (42:04)

Dry Bones

Dry Bowser

Mr. Bones Japanese cover

Grateful Dead

5: Let’s talk about this game’s comedy level (44:46)

Monkey Island series

Grand Theft Auto series

Super Mario series

Jeff Fort

Zono, Inc.

Generations Lost

Bruce Straley

The Last of Us

KISS

Frank’s preservation of the print art for Generations Lost

X-Men

6: What can we learn about the blues from this video game? (51:07)

Paul Pena

Jet Airliner

7: Do you like Mr. Bones? (56:43)

TechnoClash

X-Men 2: Clone Wars

The Amazing Spider-Man: Web of Fire

Sega Channel

Sega Menacer

Freak Boy

LIGHTNING ROUND: Name Design - Mr. Organs (01:02:31)

Credit Report (01:08:16)

Recommendations and Outro (01:13:08):

Brandon: The All New, All Astonishing Insert Credit Patreon, May I Ask For One Final Thing?, Journal with Witch, Blackhawk Museum

Ash: Ball x Pit, touch grass, tell people you care about them, this empire shall burn too

Frank: someone make a thread in the forums of media where fascists lose and die

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

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Our heroes convene to discuss the Sega Game Gear, the most satisfying punch in video games, and sports MMOs.

Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

Watch episodes with full video on YouTube

Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

SHOW NOTES:

Half Price Books

PlayStation 3

Sonic the Hedgehog series

Resistance: Fall of Man

Madden series

LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game

Criterion Closet

Severin Films

Joe Dante

Pirhana (1978)

Gremlins (1984)

The Howling (1981)

Small Soldiers (1998)

Synapse Films

Rent-A-Relic

“Please forgive me for my sin of making illegal copies. Please forgive me for my sin of hypocrisy. Please forgive me for my sin of arrogance. Amen.”

All Those Moments by Rutger Hauer

Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man

The Invisible Man

H. G. Welles

1: What kinds of video games do you think we’ll never see again? (07:27)

Metal Gear Solid

Teleprinter

Kinect

Nex Playground

Wii

Light gun

All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)

All Dogs Go to Heaven

Don Bluth

Dragons Lair series

The Secret of NIMH (1982)

Mina the Hollower

Commodore 64

2: What’s the most satisfying punch you can throw in a video game? (12:15)

Shatterhand

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Final Fight

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Bayonetta

Game Gear

Krusty’s Super Fun House

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995)

Mortal Kombat series

Darkstalkers series

Toasty!

God Hand

Electronic Gaming Monthly

3: Which Game Gear games are most faithful to their source material? (17:07)

Gunstar Heroes

Dynamite Headdy

Ecco the Dolphin

Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble

Shining Force series

Battletoads

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Master System

Aleste series

Beep Games, Inc.

OutRun

Space Harrier

Yuji Naka

4: The Adaptation Game - Betty Boop (21:50)

Betty Boop

Mr. Boop

Cuphead

Stray

Rotoscoping

Max Fleischer

PaRappa the Rapper

The Charleston

23 skidoo

Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures

5: littleboat asks, what is the word of the year in videogames? (27:42)

Friendslop

“Slop” chosen as Merriam-Webster’s 2025 word of the year

Peak

Big Walk

Untitled Goose Game

Titanfall 2

Titanic (1997)

H Game

6: Are there sports MMOs where everybody is one player? (35:38)

Second Life

Madden series

NBA 2K series

Rocket League

Rematch

Sifu

Hyper Gunsport

7: Has making a video game gotten harder or easier over time? (39:42)

Unity

Unreal Engine

Ed Annunziata

SGDK

Intellivision Amico

Blender

LIGHTNING ROUND: GameFAQ&As - Baldur’s Gate III (45:15)

Recommendations and Outro (52:52):

Frank: King Leo peppermint

Brandon: Dickens Fair, Dark Angel (1990), Cat Eyed Boy

Ash: Greyhound (2020), I, Claudius

Jaffe: I, Podius (for Ash), Pluribus (for Brandon), Ragman (1991 series) (for Frank), leave us a review, watch a couple Insert Credit Show episodes in a row on YouTube, support us at patreon.com/insertcredit

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

This week’s horrible buzzer was sent in by selib. Thanks! To submit your own horrible buzzer, send an original recording no longer than two seconds in mp3 or wav format to [email protected], and maybe we’ll use it on the show!

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Frank, Ash, and Brandon spend the end of the year clearing out the Question Hole, finding brainslop, Tommy Tallarico’s new alias Sammy Salazar, and the death of Sonic the Hedgehog. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums

SHOW NOTES:

“Earth friend, if you want to stay alive, turn off the computer.”

Persona series

The Hierophant

The Tower

The High Priestess

The Chariot

Magical Drop series

Tarot

WonderSwan

Sega Saturn

Ayami Kojima

1: MarkJ asks, what’s the most inappropriate time and place for a video game merchant to set up shop? (04:02)

Phantasy Star series

Pokemon series

Elden Ring

Fantasy Zone

Opa-Opa

The Simpsons

Resident Evil 4

Merchant

Leon Kennedy

Moogles

Final Fantasy IX

2: Call Me By Your Name asks, which game would you play until eternity ends? (7:30)

Elevator Action Returns

Memento (2000)

Nethack

Dwarf Fortress

Holedown

Tetris

Baldur’s Gate III

Pluribus

3: David asks, what would it take to make a consistently funny game? (10:36)

Disco Elysium

High on Life

Marvel Deadpool VR

Kaizo

FromSoftware

4: Ryan asks, if you could be the best in the world at one video game what would it be? (12:37)

Tetris

California State Lottery

Street Fighter series

Tekken series

Kimberly

Elena

5: NVB asks, how would you bring back text adventure games? (13:56)

Ace Attorney series

Twine

6: Gallander asks, do you have any game or experience that makes you reflect on how things that once were won’t ever be again, or makes you too sad? (14:58)

Why Do They Call It Oven When You Of In The Cold Food Of Out Hot Eat The Food?

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

XCOM series

Animal Crossing series

Sonic 3 & Knuckles

7: Horizontal Hold asks, what video game soundtrack is most analogous in its sound as it is to its gameplay? (16:56)

Tetris Effect

Demonschool

Rez

WarioWare series

Sound Shapes

The Legend of Zelda

8: Billy asks, what modern non-arcade games would be improved if only available in arcades? (18:25)

Beat Saber

Balatro

CloverPit

Dogpile

9: Corey asks, what is the next phenomenon that will be predicted by a Hideo Kojima game? (19:18)

Hideo Kojima

Death Stranding

Metal Gear Solid 2

Sammy Salazar

Tommy Tallarico

Mr. Snrub

10: SvenserSblant asks, how has working in the game industry impacted your ability to enjoy games? (22:20)

Game Boy Advance

11: Gaagaagiins asks, what would be the for a cool run? (23:58)

Tool-assisted speedrun

Mega Man series

The Sopranos

SNK 40th Anniversary Collection

Games Done Quick

12: MDS asks, if you knew better in the past, what game or console would you have been super into? (27:20)

Super Nintendo

Game Boy Color

Commodore 64

Amiga

Karateka

Jordan Mechner

Online Multiplayer: Two Game Blister Pack Pairing (30:36)

13: FLCL Forever asks, If Sega had nigh-unlimited money, what could they have done to save the Saturn? (32:47)

Sega Saturn

Xbox One

PlayStation

32X

Dreamcast

A $5 Million Gift From Sega Saved Nvidia

Sonic the Hedgehog

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog

14: Chin asks, what do you think of violence in video games? (39:31)

Spec Ops: The Line

Amnesia: the Dark Descent

Clock Tower

15: Dan Cantou asks is licensed crap inherently worse than original crap? (41:39)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Terminator 2D: No Fate

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

007: First Light

Fortnite

Home Alone

NiGHTS into Dreams…

Yuji Naka

16: Malcove asks, how do we make a Studio Ghibli game? (44:37)

Ni No Kuni series

Giblets

Boku no Natsuyasumi

17: Chopemon asks, what setting would you design for a Resident Evil-style one location video game? (45:52)

Paradise Killer

Promise Mascot Agency

Las Vegas Strip

Disneyland

Crow Country

Catacombs of Paris

Doom

Wieliczka Salt Mine

Silent Hill series

18: Devilsblush asks, who is your favorite developer of video games you aren’t interested in playing? (48:35)

Hideo Kojima

FromSoftware

Elden Ring

Shigeru Miyamoto

19: TapeVulture asks, how can we describe Yuji Naka’s legacy? (49:39)

Naoto Oshima

Sonic CD

Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator given suspended prison sentence for insider trading

20: Dilson asks, how could loading screens be made better? (52:43)

Uncharted series

Sonic Frontiers

21: Eric Hamilton Schneider asks, if you discovered a door into a video game world, what would would you be most happy is real? (54:17)

The Magicians

Star Trek

Pokemon series

Stardew Valley

The Sims series

22: Garrett asks, how can or should pinball continue its evolution? (57:23)

Pinball

Metallica

Iron Maiden

23: BreadyToDie asks, which games do time travel the best? (01:00:01)

Vince Campella

Titanfall 2

Effect and Cause

Call of Duty series

TimeSplitters

Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle

24: Katon asks, do you think Terry Basio could make a Donkey Konga game work? (01:02:06)

Terry Bozzio

Frank Zappa

Donkey Konga series

25: Spencer asks, do a majority of game players have an unhealthy relationship with games? (01:03:08)

Recommendations and Outro (01:04:24):

Brandon: Touring After the Apocalypse, Priscilla Chan’s Autumn Colors, Paradox’s first album, be nice to each other

Ash: Love in the Clouds

Frank: Try to relax

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

This week’s horrible buzzer was sent in by selib. Thanks! To submit your own horrible buzzer, send an original recording no longer than two seconds in mp3 or wav format to [email protected], and maybe we’ll use it on the show!

Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

DigitalFoundry’s John Linneman returns for what is seemingly becoming an annual event: sitting with Brandon Sheffield to discuss games purchased while in Japan. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman..

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SHOW NOTES:

1: Brandon’s F1 Triple Battle, F1 Circus Special: Pole to Win, and F1 Circus ’92

Moto Roader

Motoroader MC

PC Engine

Mega Drive

2: John’s Ridge Racer V demo and Japanese Ridge Racer 6

Ridge Racer

8-4

Xbox 360

3: Brandon’s Out Live: Be Eliminate Yesterday

Out Live

Sunsoft

Kileak: The Blood

Daedalus

Belzerion

Tetsujin

Blaster Master: Blasting Again

Myst

The Manhole

Atari Jaguar

Abduction

4: John’s Tengai Makyō: Daiyon no Mokushiroku - The Apocalypse IV

Tengai Makyo series

Joe Hisaishi

Ryuichi Sakamoto

5: Brandon’s Knight Rider Special

Chase HQ

Magical Chase

6: John’s Virtua Fighter for PC

Panzer Dragoon

NV1

Sega Saturn

3DO Blaster

PC-FX

FM Towns

Amiga

Commodore

7: Brandon’s Volfied

Simple 1500 series

Qix

Gals Panic

8: John’s Namco History Vol. 4

Galaxian

Galaga

Gaplus

Bosconian

King & Balloon

Warp & Warp

Namco Museum series

Namco Anthology series

Valkyrie no Bōken: Toki no Kagi Densetsu

Konami Game Collection series

9: Brandon’s Koudelka and Clock Tower II demos

Shadow Hearts series

Nier series

Clock Tower

10: John’s Hungry Ghosts

Tokuro Fujiwara

Ghouls n’ Ghosts

Extermination

Hidetaka Suehiro

King’s Field

Baroque

Hungry Ghosts: You are being watched. You are being judged. - Kimimi the Game Eating-She Monster

11: Brandon’s RayForce soundtrack

Zuntata

Xevious

12: John’s Goemon: Shin Sedai Shūmei!

Ganbare Goemon series

13: Brandon’s Anearth Fantasy Stories: The First Volume

Seiya Monogatari: Anearth Fantasy Stories

14: John’s Gunparade Orchestra

Sakura Taisen series

Phase Paradox

Philosoma

Cosmic Smash

15: Brandon’s Cardcaptor Sakura: Clow Card Magic

Twinkle Star Sprites

Tetris with Cardcaptor Sakura: Eternal Heart

Tetris: The Grand Master

16: John’s Virtual Boy Wario Land

Virtual Boy

Pochita

Tatsuki Fujimoto

Gunpei Yokoi

WonderSwan

Gunpey

17: Brandon’s Macross VF-X2

HUMMING BIRD

Ace Combat series

18: Brandon’s The Note

Doctor Hauzer

19: Brandon’s Laplace no Ma

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