What's That In Your Pocket?

Level 11: Astro Bot vs. Super Mario Wonder, and a Bunch of Vita Games

In Level 11, we tackle the vaguely forgotten Super Mario Wonder and are contractually required to compare it to Astro Bot. After that, Stan goes over his continued Vita exploration, including Killzone: Mercenary and Uncharted: Golden Abyss. Timestamps: 3:53 - Super Mario Wonder / Astro Bot 30:27 - Stan's still Vita'ing: Papers, Please 38:23 - Killzone: Mercenary 43:37 - Gravity Rush 2 47:58 - Uncharted: Golden Abyss 59:55 - The Hardware Corner: The ROG Xbox Ally 1:05:25 - Next week, Apple reviews, and a giveaway!

Level 10: First Takes on the Switch 2

Shane nabbed a Switch 2 on release, and he's here to spit some hot takes on the biggest handheld released in years. He and Stan go through some thoughts on the size, the screen, the controls, the ergonomics, and more, then get into an overview of Mario Kart World and some Switch 1 games that got upgrades on the Switch 2. Timestamps: 3:30 - Shane got a Switch 2 9:40 - This thing is big 12:30 - It feels premium 16:00 - The screen is pretty darn good, but not great 22:38 - It's a lot like the Switch 1 23:50 - The wifi and networking don't seem great 26:58 - The sound and rumble is really good 30:00 - The eShop is actually usable now 31:06 - The battery life is... sketchy 38:10 - The ergonomics are... questionable 44:42 - A Mario Kart World overview 1:02:40 - Some brief looks at Switch 1 game upgrades 1:05:40 - Some final initial thoughts on the Switch 2 1:13:35 - Wrapping up

Level 9: Vita Means Life

Stan picks up a Vita and discovers what life truly is as he gets heavy with Gravity Rush. Meanwhile, Shane is still (mostly) only playing games with a resolution of 160x144. Timestamps: 6:10 - What we've been playing 26:49 - Stan's Vita journey 43:35 - The Vita library 48:36 - Gravity Rush deep dive 1:06:22 - Some hardware hits

Level 8: CrossCode - We Tried!

We're back with Level 8, and earlier than expected! We just both had so much to talk about that we couldn't wait any longer. In this episode, we get into our most recent experiences with Doom (2016), Link's Awakening, and Patapon, then spend a bunch of time dissecting just why we both hated CrossCode so much, and finish it off with Stan's thoughts about his newly acquired Odin 2. Timestamps: 0:00 - Many people are saying we won the trade war 4:21 - This week's episode 6:53 - What are we playing? 25:18 - CrossCode: We wanted to like it 28:44 - What is CrossCode (supposedly)? 35:08 - What is CrossCode (actually)? 44:18 - Writing bad 48:45 - Game design bad 1:00:30 - Stan's Odin 2 adventures 1:14:35 - What's coming up?

Level 7: Très Bien! Clair Obscur, Blue Prince Revisited, and the Odin 2 Portal

With life stuff causing a delay, we're back with a long episode full of the good stuff. In Level 7, we talk about our Switch 2 preorder experiences, what we've been playing, get in the weeds on Clair Obscur, game streaming, and our ongoing experiences and thoughts about Blue Prince. Finally, we actually make some time to talk about one of the latest and greatest Android handhelds in the Odin 2 Portal, and the current state of emulation on Android. Timestamps: 3:05 - Switch 2 preorder fun (with a side of Dreamcast) 11:50 - What we're playing (or not playing) 28:28 - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 48:14 - Does streaming count as handheld gaming? 55:56 - Blue Prince: Revisited 1:08:10 - The hardware corner: The Odin 2 Portal 1:30:38 - What we're playing next