[00:00:07] And with that ladies and gentlemen, I want to welcome everybody to Crashing Game Night, the first episode of 2025 And for those that have been around us, this is now going into, we were just talking about this, start of year 6, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, start of year 7 actually of doing this We're still not sick of each other yet Yeah, we're still not sick of each other I know right So tonight we do have a special guest
[00:00:36] It may sound it on a few episodes, but we're still going strong Yeah, we're still going strong Anyways, but we've been talking about doing this for, we were talking about what, 6-8 months Wade, also known as Professor Noctis, is joining us Hey hey, what's up? We've got the beanieed one, Gerard Barrera What's up all my nerds, how's it going? Thank you guys for hanging out And Wade, what's up? I am so excited to hear
[00:01:03] The moment Matt told me, like your story and like how you integrated Final Fantasy Man I'm so excited to hear, like, to dive into it It's very interesting, so thank you and welcome Right on We've got the babyface one, Theowalski What's up y'all? Jerry, I'm a little disappointed Just because it's super cold here in Colorado and there's snow I had half expected you to be wearing a cardigan
[00:01:29] Because you had a chill in California from our snow in Colorado Well, we must be getting the wind because it's windy as hell out here Oh yeah, Theo, I'm surprised you guys have power I have a sweater It is a little cold out here We're getting into the low 50s right now, Theo, you better watch out Well, I really am surprised you got power because one of my guys that reports to me is just south of LA
[00:01:57] And they've lost power multiple times because of everything out there But I would be remiss, ladies and gentlemen, for not introducing the man with the college couch As we're now calling this College couch And so, hey, hey, hey, see it's growing on you guys It's growing on you That's what it is I'd say it's either the college couch or the budget therapist couch I was going to say therapist couch Wow, wow It's growing on you guys though, it's growing on you I mean it's IKEA, it's so budget, right?
[00:02:27] Budget, I love the budget therapist couch No, we're going to go further The budget college therapist couch The matrilege services The man, the myth, the legend The lion's mane, Jason Bellino Jay, how's it going, guys? How's it going? Wade, thank you so much for being on with us tonight It's going to be... I feel it's going to be a lot of fun But I hope Matt paired you for what it is to be with us The shenanigans
[00:02:57] The pre-show was fun A lot to live up to in the pre-show But you guys are already like You guys are starting to feel this couch out now Like you guys are thinking about it more now You're like, oh man I was already open to it You know, but I was definitely, you know Jumping on the bandwagon of It's an odd couch, you know, but I'm down I still feel like if I lay on a bed I'm going to feel a disease You're going to constantly like adjust So with that You're going to catch something, sir
[00:03:28] So I want to welcome Jeffrey Kiz Thank you for crashing game night with us tonight He says he is here for the prof So we got someone here for Professor Noctis So I want to start So you wrote your Starting out is I think one of the most interesting things I've always found is Your dissertation was on Final Fantasy 15 Why 15? Because it came out while I was writing a dissertation, honestly
[00:03:58] Oh, there you go Yeah, I was in a doctoral program And I was writing I was really doing some research for a different dissertation Okay, like and it wasn't going anywhere It was like sort of a human behavior Human development sort of stuff Not even really anything with education A little bit more psychology driven But then I started playing like day one Started playing Final Fantasy 15
[00:04:26] I've been a lifelong Final Fantasy fan If you make out the things behind me And like the chair I mean all of it's like Final Fantasy is like life for me But so I started playing this game And like I've got a few religious studies degrees under my belt Before I had started my doctoral work And I just noticed similarities Between the game and a lot of the ancient kingship narratives That were in everything from Jewish literature
[00:04:56] Ancient Near Eastern Mesopotamian Babylonian literature And I was like I bet I could teach something Because believe it or not as riveting as that sounds Students think it's pretty boring And I was like how can I spice this up? Maybe I can use a video game for it And I started testing it out with some classes It didn't suck because they kept letting me do it And then long story short I turned it into a dissertation
[00:05:22] About the impact of using a video game in humanities and history Oh, nice So it could have been a lot of different Final Fantasies To answer your question Yeah But Final Fantasy 15 was timely released Like it was very fortuitously released for me And then secondly The themes in that game just really really cater To some of these elements that I was exploring And you had another one of your followers just joined on in Jedi Piggy Prime
[00:05:51] Hey, what's going on? Welcome back to the game as well Welcome back to the game as well So Oh yeah, that's freaking awesome Because like I give mad respect for a teacher that knows To be able to make things that are new for learning Be relatable in order to make it more easily applied And I have great respect for that Because that's how I have always learned Is that I need to relate it to something So that way I know how it applies
[00:06:20] And if it's in a matter of real world Or even direct comparison That's how it's going to make it that much easier for me to learn it The mad respect, sir Mad respect Yeah, I was also wondering and had a question about When you presented this to be part of your curriculum Did you get a lot of pushback on this? Because I mean it's a very different kind of way to teach Which I agree with Theo I'm kind of the same way Which I think this really would have helped me
[00:06:48] So the weapon of a researcher is data And so I had done some pilot small group studies With just kind of like focus groups That weren't in a real class or anything I was just like this could be a fun extracurricular thing And I kind of utilized it in student life I gathered a bunch of students and stuff And I just took meticulous notes So when I presented it I was like This is what I think is kind of happening Could we test this out? And they were like can you turn it into a semester long course And I was like absolutely
[00:07:17] Yeah, I definitely could There's so much material in the game Only a semester, are you sure? Yeah And man, like Final Fantasy 15 is not well loved universally It's sold very well But it's not universally loved But what I'll say is that When you slow cook Final Fantasy 15 for an entire semester Everybody in the class ends up loving it Everybody, like gamers, non-gamers, my sorority girls
[00:07:46] I mean they're just like this, I didn't know video games were like this I wonder if you impacted like the number of new players playing during those times Like that's gotta be so cool Seeing a nice little bump in players, like that's awesome Right? Square is sitting there going Why the heck is there extra sales on 15? Are you seeing the 15 numbers? They're going up He needs some commission from Square Exactly! That's what I was leading to Square Enix, like let me know Oh my god
[00:08:16] Quick sponsorship on the YouTube Hey, Chad Chad, if you're watching this Come on Chad, if you're watching this from Square Enix I don't like one of the PR guys over at Chad He's a great guy, used to be over at Nintendo But he's part of the Final Fantasy 7 group Chad, if you happen to catch this Hook him up, come on Listen, Square Enix takes good care of me They do But Final Fantasy 15
[00:08:46] I mean that, like I was not a content creator Back then at all So all of this was new You were going, diving into this like Learning, figuring it out Oh man The goal was to put Final Fantasy 15 in my syllabus As part of my required texts And so they had to buy a series of texts And then also Final Fantasy 15 Or they could watch YouTube videos And I had a series of
[00:09:14] Not even Let's Plays, just cut scenes For the game that were on YouTube I didn't do them, props to whoever we used I think we used like five or six different people I can't even remember, that was so bad of me as a scholar But they would watch these And then we would come to class and we would discuss And then I would show key cut scenes in class For us to kind of experience together And then process together and all this kind of stuff To make it feel like we were all on a journey together
[00:09:42] Because that's really the key of it The point was, if we can do this thing together in a class You're going to interpret and process the memory Of the stuff that we're learning in class very differently And that really is the I guess we could say the boring stuff of my research It's the question of what does it do in the brain And how does memory process differently when you're using a game
[00:10:09] Versus reading a text or even watching a movie or something like that And the reality is, it processes a first person style memory in your brain Where it's not that Noctis went into the cave, but I did And if I can compare or create a parallel to say Ancient text, King David going into a specific cave Tying that to Noctis Then you're going to remember the story about David in the cave And that's really the learning outcome
[00:10:39] To learn these stories that you don't care about through something you do And that in and of itself right there Kind of makes also learning using modern day technologies Versus just textbooks to teach somebody Because a lot of college classes, let's be honest They're boring as all heck And you don't really want to go to them anymore But Jedi Piggy Prime did have a question While we're on the topic of that It's that they asked
[00:11:07] What was one of your favorite earliest fun insights A student told you when you started teaching the class? So a lot of that I can't really talk about But I can say students have shared Some deeply reflective private sort of personal memories and experiences Because I have them write reflection papers throughout the semester That correspond with Noctis' journey of ascension
[00:11:35] So the story of Final Fantasy 15 For those that may not know Is the story of a young prince who has lost his kingdom And he's trying to reclaim the throne It's his ascension story So I compare that to a student's own ascension into adulthood This was traditionally a freshman only class Which freshman year I consider the year of how to be a person Because you're like growing up and like learning how to be a person You're still figuring yourself out and you're entering the adult
[00:12:05] Whoa, wait I've got to pay bills? It's just one of those things Like, hmm But they're learning to be a person And so I'm trying to teach them some of these like adult themes Of like growing up and maturity and responsibility And how do you make a difference in the world and the community in which you live Through the story of Noctis And so they would share these reflections for a grade
[00:12:34] And they would talk about kind of their processing this When Noctis did this, it made me reflect on this moment in my life And I think that I'm seeing everything from like my relationship to my dad differently To the people that I just didn't really give a second thought in my hometown But now I really miss them and I actually do care about them The way that Noctis does some of these surrounding side quests It's amazing some of the rich things that they would say Just by giving them the platform to reflect on it
[00:13:02] I think that's the magic of gaming though too, right? Is certain things, right? Like in this case with your class it was Final Fantasy 15 You know, for me it was, you know, Uncharted 3 But also too is like for also too is like God of War 2018 So the the reboot word Kratos is a dad I started playing that with at the time he was only like six months old my son And it was like playing that through a different lens, right?
[00:13:30] And it was just the way it drew me in and I love the story And I even told Corey Barlog at at E3 when we got to see him on the floor I was like dude, I've never been a fan of God of War But this game I love because of it connected with me on a parent level Beyond just what the story was So how did it evolve from doing 15 to now you guys
[00:13:58] I know you saw one of your posts on there doing 16 Yeah, yeah, so Let's see I was teaching Final Fantasy 15 The full class title is Judeo-Christian kingship through Final Fantasy 15 Just long and short of it Hold on real quick You see that in your course possible selections And you're going to be like, it's a game. Let's go Yeah, yeah And sometimes
[00:14:26] If they're registering via their phone It just says Judeo-Christian kingship dot dot dot And so some people show up first day and they're like, wait, this is a video game And I'm like, yeah, there's drop ad If this isn't for you, that's fine But so that's the class that I was teaching And I did that in 2017, 18 and 19 And then in 2020 COVID hit And we all went online We were on Zoom
[00:14:54] And Zoom is great for a lot of things It's not super great for live streaming video games And doing like video quality to a mass audience And so I had the idea and I got permission To start streaming on Twitch Some lecture plays, as I called them Instead of a let's play, a lecture play That's how that whole came about That was it That's awesome And so I'm going to play a bit
[00:15:23] We're going to pause the game We're going to lecture a little bit And then we're going to get back into the game And I would put timestamps When I was diligent And they could skip ahead to go to the lecture part Or they could go through the whole journey For that evening with me And so that's kind of how content creation Sort of started for me And so I go through like Final Fantasy 1 through 6 To like 3 viewers or 0 mostly And then my students would watch the VODs For homework afterwards
[00:15:54] And sometimes they would like get together And they would watch them But then they'd get roommates to also watch them And so it's like, hey, this is kind of interesting And so that's kind of how it spread On the campus a little bit And then I started testing out some different games I went back to 15 about once a semester And then I ended up going happenstance Not really in invitational or anything I went to the Final Fantasy 16 launch party Nice
[00:16:23] I was one of the lucky few that got in Like it was like a first come first serve sort of thing But like I had like 3 computers And I was like, I gotta get in So, and while I was over there I had never put out a video But I had just been pretty active on Twitter You may have seen me in the 20 I think it was the 2019 Wrestlemania Where I held up a sign that says
[00:16:52] Final Fantasy 15 is underrated And that picture of me Meant bonkers And so people in the Final Fantasy community That's awesome Because, oh, it's the Wrestlemania Final Fantasy 15 guy And he also apparently teaches or something And so I got to meet a bunch of those people And one of them said His name is David Vincent He does a lot of JRPG stuff He said to me, and several others do too
[00:17:22] But he specifically was like Hey, you are working twice as hard doing Twitch Every single semester Doing the same content Just do like YouTube And then your students can watch it And you can move on to something else I was like, well that's brilliant And so I did that And then Final Fantasy 16 comes out And I was like, well, obviously I gotta just look and see if there's anything I see that you put the picture in the chat That's exactly it That's the one
[00:17:52] And the best part of that picture The best part of that picture is that every face in that picture Tells a story For those single ones For those watching along at home That is the right now I don't know what was happening in the ring I have no idea I just love the confidence in your face Yeah man I know It's just like Something intense was going on No one's reacting to you
[00:18:22] Perfect moment Dude, everyone sees your sight Perfect moment for it to come out It was insane But then the other people got me like Yep I did share it with everyone watching along at home right now That's so awesome It's incredible, right? Yeah So anyway, like I have these conversations And let's say I have these conversations And they're like saying, hey, why don't you give YouTube
[00:18:52] More of a shot here And I was like, okay So I started doing Final Fantasy 16 After my first playthrough of the game And I always try to stream on hard mode And so I start playing these lecture plays And by the end of it, I realized that some of my fellow faculty Had been watching No way And so they asked me at the end of the semester
[00:19:22] Hey, do you want to do anything with this? And I was like, I've got an idea for another class based on this I didn't think it would be a class But I think it could be And they approved it And not only that, but I was awarded a teaching grant From the College of Education And I was able to research Utilizing a video game system in the actual classroom So we would unpack a PlayStation 5 Every single class period
[00:19:51] And students would pass around the controller And they would fight different bosses We'd go through different stories And we'd experience it together as like a journey It was awesome It was really, really cool That's awesome That's crazy That's amazing But also too, it's that whole adage Work harder, or we're smarter, not harder Yeah, right You know, so doing the YouTube videos And posting them and whatnot So with your classes that you've had What's been the game
[00:20:21] That they've enjoyed the most As far as the combination of your lectures Coupled with playing through the game I think Final Fantasy 15 is probably their favorite Simply because it's a little bit more light-hearted than Final Fantasy 16 I mean, both are pretty intense Hey, I have a quick logistical question Is my video chopping? Yes, it is
[00:20:50] A little choppy, your audio is perfect Your audio is fine, but the video is kind of Let me see what I can do real quick Not a problem Sure I don't know what's exactly happening There you go There you go You just gotta like hit it You were on a good monologue there Yeah, I was afraid I'm gonna let the boy cook I'm afraid something's happened to my video
[00:21:15] But no, I could see 15 being the favorite out of the two Because 16 is heavy Like that is heavy So it's also the difference between a 100 level course, which is 15 And a 300 level course, which is Final Fantasy 16 So for me, I just finished a semester of 16 And the title of that class is A Philosophy of Religious Deconstruction through Final Fantasy 16 Okay?
[00:21:43] And we're exploring two ideas, Muthos and Logos Okay? And it's Ancient Greek Understanding these concepts of What is myth? And what is practicality? And how do you deconstruct religion In a proper framework To kind of bring Bring about better belief systems Better ritual Better, you know, non Non-harmful forms of religiosity
[00:22:13] And that was something that Was really, really an interesting sort of thing And 16 says a lot about that kind of stuff Hmm. So when you look at before you introduce You know, actually gaming into your Your archetype for your Yeah. Like, were you Were your classes still full and everything Prior to that? Or were you Was that class still kind of like struggling To get people signing up for it to do the class Or was it, you know, doing all right?
[00:22:41] And then you're just like, hey, let's introduce gaming into it Um, so let's see These classes These classes were made for the use of gaming And so I wasn't really teaching things like this in classes Instead, I designed these courses that kind of had some like elective material Like you would learn it in like a religious studies class traditionally
[00:23:11] But I wanted to do something with media as well That may not be a core requirement But would kind of deepen somebody that was a major or a non-major for that matter So, but it also give them a writing credit So I guess to answer your question Yeah Like, I designed these classes for the use of video games They weren't classes before that I wasn't teaching Judeo-Christian kingship I wasn't teaching religious deconstruction It was always connected
[00:23:41] And to also answer your question They are always like with a waiting list Always Wow That's a huge compliment Yeah That's a huge compliment and testament to your thought process And your idea It works, it's working Well, it's just weird enough You know, and it's like Yeah, students are like, I'm curious So like I always First day of class
[00:24:10] I always go through the syllabus And I'll say this is what's going to be expected of you The papers you're going to write You know, just the basic rhythm and flow Then the second half of syllabus day I say, okay, we are going to go around this room And I usually have some stupid question Like, you know, who's more impressive A magician that can do three real tricks That are actual magic Or Albert Einstein And things like that But in addition to those questions I always say, why are you taking this class? Is it religion? Religious studies?
[00:24:40] Is it video games? Is it because you need a humanities credit? What is it? And like the answers are always really interesting I like, I got a shout out to my little Kyos and Zetas The sorority girls that are always like I've never touched a video game Like I think I played Mario with my older brother But I'm here because it fit in my schedule I'm like, I love that And that's going to be so fun Real talk, one of those sweet sorority girls
[00:25:08] I think my first or second semester teaching this It's the final day of class Okay, and I've had them watch the ending of Final Fantasy 15 Before class And I walk into class And some of the other students are there And said, hey, have you You haven't seen, they said her name And I was like, no, no, no I haven't Like, I saw her earlier Like she was in the like, dining hall Over in the dorm And she was, she had her laptop propped open
[00:25:38] And she was watching the ending and just sobbing over her chicken fingers I was like, that's the kind of response I want in class And those are the type of students you want to get I hate that, I'm so sad And aren't, aren't those the, the, the funnest students to get The ones that didn't really have that interest Maybe some ties But open their eyes to like maybe even trying the game Or just opening them up to checking it out on YouTube And having that reaction That's amazing Well, that's exactly it I had a student last semester
[00:26:07] She, we forced her to play I mean, she consented, right To play one boss In the game And she was so terrified I have been playing on story mode So like any level of difficulty Except one time I made one guy who was a little arrogant I made him play on hard mode It was a real struggle Anyway, she's playing Humility, humility She said, I didn't know games were like this
[00:26:35] I didn't know that I would care about these characters And like the music And she just went on and on and on And I was like, that's awesome She was like, this is like a really cool way of telling a story I love that Because you're also opening the eyes to people who don't Truly understand the Everything that goes into a video game Because I always compare it It's just like a movie Only it's more technical And the fact is, like that student just said
[00:27:05] You end up falling in love with the characters You care about them You're going through this story with them As one of the characters And it just I love that it opens their eyes to that Because then, you know, you could throw them suggestions like Oh, if you love story and character Check out Last of Us Oh yeah You know, it just opens those doors for people to explore that And I love that, you're helping that as well That's it That's actually what we're doing this semester
[00:27:32] So, to coincide with the Max series, I guess we call it now But we're doing a lecture play And lecture series of The Last of Us season one and two This semester Oh, my wheelhouse baby Just to try it out Because like the Final Fantasy stuff has always been Like I love that, it's my favorite series of all time But it's a proof of concept And so, the thought is
[00:28:02] We can do this with more games Any game can be used in learning and teaching And what I'm finding is There's some real traction in high schools and other universities To really explore these kind of things And what we want to do is help resource educators To do what they do better and easier And in a way that's going to impact students So what That's amazing, that's awesome I mean, I was going to ask that question, you know Because this has been Like, I mean
[00:28:31] You've been doing these for a few semesters now And you've been like having some obvious feedback From both students and faculty I mean, do you think that this could open up Like a new pathway of learning certain things? Because I mean, for example Maybe even going to the degree of like a curriculum Well, not a curriculum Well, not a curriculum But I mean like for example Like my, I love playing And I am an avid gamer of Hellblade
[00:29:00] Senua Saga You know, and obviously like they did have a few PhD Doctors come in for the entire psychology aspect of it Like do you think that Not obviously like, oh, next semester is going to pop up But I mean in the future Like we start moving into like using video game as a medium To like push like certain aspects of academics that we've
[00:29:28] We've had like that's, I guess, zoned out And now we're like zoning in That is the core of my research, right? To see how we can take these story driven games For me personally, story driven games To build excitement and intrigue For things that students don't find particularly interesting And so I mean I've got real hope That we're going to build a library of curriculum Both through YouTube video
[00:29:56] And through perhaps print or digital print resources To help faculty do what they love better The thing is the research shows That memory is going to be stronger When you have that level of agency That a video game offers And with a good teacher or professor You're going to be able to make those connections But the problem is most teachers Aren't gamers And they don't know how to use it
[00:30:24] And so that's where those of us who are educators And also gamers can come in and say Hey, we can do this And I'm not the only one doing it A lot of them are busy writing books And I'm, you know, making YouTube videos, I guess But, you know, it is a growing movement I would love to see it more in the next five, ten years I think the only other time I know of Like that's actually been put out there In the media and stuff like that Of an educator using a game Is with Assassin's Creed Origins
[00:30:53] And they were teaching Oh yeah Ancient Egyptian And they were using the game itself You know, you've seen The only other things would be Going into Assassin's Creed And going to Notre Dame Yes Because they went into such detail And actually use that game To actually aid in the reconstruction Of Notre Dame Right After the fire Which is insane That Ubisoft Went to that degree On the research
[00:31:23] Because it was that detail Yeah, it's crazy I remember that segment That was crazy And this is the world that we're going to be living in And we're already seeing it I mean, imagine in 10, maybe 20 years Or however long Students in third grade Who are learning about the pyramids Can put on a VR headset And they can go take a joint field trip To the pyramids That's something that That most children Wow Are never going to dream of And then as they're learning these things Maybe they're caught up in
[00:31:53] A narrative that goes along with it Well, that's going to cement for them A love for Ancient Egypt And these pyramids And you can do that with anything Right? I was having a conversation Earlier today about Illusion of Gaia Do you remember that game For the Super Nintendo? Oh yeah Okay? Listen, this game might be A bigger part of my origin story Than Final Fantasy 15 Because it's where I learned about The Nazca Lines And the Tower of Babel And Anchor Wat And all of these places That were real world sort of
[00:32:22] And I just wanted to learn about them After that Because I was exposed to them in games And I think that we are going to move to that But you've got to have educators Be a catalyst for it So what is it about Final Fantasy specifically That makes it your Favorite gaming franchise? Oh man, so it's rooted in memory For me I mean When I was in second grade First and second grade Sitting in my dad's lap Reading mythological words Like Leviathan And Bahamut
[00:32:51] That I don't know what they are But dad's helping me sound them out And I'm learning about these things And he would tell me real world stories About the titans of ancient Greece And as best as he knew I mean, he didn't know all of these things To the extent that they existed But he could tell me enough of the story To pique my interest And so I remember playing Final Fantasy 4 Slash 2 On the Super Nintendo And it just changed my world Because I realized This is like a book that I would read
[00:33:21] But I'm doing stuff in it And so I looked forward to Final Fantasy 3 And I just like poured over the instruction booklet Like we all did Because I would bring it to school And I would like learn to draw the characters And I would like Games with manuals Yeah, the best man Like they aren't for adults They're for kids That are taking them to try to get through Their English class And they're just jotting down You know, stats and stuff For penmanship awards or whatever I don't even know if they do that anymore We had penmanship awards I never wanted that I had penmanship not as much
[00:33:50] Nope, nope, nope Handwriting stuff Jedi Piggy Prim Tim is asking, Professor If you had to pick one place to explore in VR Or a video game Oh man Like Notre Dame Where would you pick? And that also goes to us too Oh man I mean honestly I feel like I got that with Ghost of Tsushima The kind of like Ooh, cool Ancient Japan sort of stuff Good choice
[00:34:18] That gave me that experience I'd love that one Everyone knows my answer Road Quaid Dead Yeah Of course Red Dead I mean that's what John But you won't go anywhere You're just gonna be fishing the whole time No, I'm hunting I'm in the forest That was me in 15 I get that David Vink streams in chat Said hey Wade, thanks for the shout out Grats on the stream too
[00:34:48] And he did mention though He was like, no kidding I had 70 year old guys Droning on about ancient history and philosophy And to your point, right Is hey You know Let's do it in a way that Engages everybody Versus what I was saying Is like making it so boring They actually just Zone out Yeah That's so crazy
[00:35:15] How you've elevated everything It just reminded me of The one class in my high school That everybody loved And the one teacher They all loved Was Greek mythology And we would always go through the Odyssey But her way to compare the hero's journey And all that We would watch All three Lord of the Rings movies But comparatively We had to write papers And compare Same thing Same with Star Wars All three
[00:35:44] Because there was a lot of symbolism Of both those franchises And it was just an easier way to learn Mine? Yeah, it was awesome The one I can remember From high school This would have been my sophomore year I think Yeah, something like that We watched The Power of One Which is about the apartheid in South Africa Steven Dorf, Morgan Freeman Good book too It's an amazing movie Yeah, amazing movie We were learning about the apartheid You know, in our world history class
[00:36:14] And they're like They watched the movie And it just kind of was just like Yes, it's a story But it was showing Really what the apartheid really was like At that time And it really hit home It made me really think about those things Yeah I think for VR perspective To answer Jedi Piggy Prime's question I'm guessing Horizon No, actually Oh no, okay I would want to be on the grassy knoll Before JFK's assassination
[00:36:42] The reason being is I wrote two papers So I wrote one paper on it Interesting My freshman year of high school I wrote a paper on it And I also wrote a paper on it In my freshman year of college So that was like Kind of an era that I really did a lot of research on And whatnot And it would have been just Just to be on the grassy knoll At that time to see
[00:37:11] Okay, which story is actually true? You know, because we know that The Zapruder film And where did you really hear the gunshot? That's also, yeah There's a lot of those theories, yeah Because you look at the Zapruder film Against what they said at the time With Lee Harvey Oswald from the book repository None of it kind of lines up So it's like, it would be nice to actually be there to see Actually what happened in this momentous occasion In the United States history
[00:37:39] You know, as tragic as it was It was still momentous And it put us on a different trajectory As a country So for me, that's just where I would look at it As much as yes, I would love Horizon But if I'm going to look at something gaming-wise I'm going Uncharted Just because of the different places Locations and... The historical significance for the world history That you go to Boy, that's a great pick That probably would have been my second, yeah Yeah We should know
[00:38:09] I mean, I'm a Horizon Uncharted junkie But that's just for me It would be Uncharted So... So David, so for me I didn't get to watch movies in college We watched some of them when I was in high school Actually, yeah That class I was speaking about That was high school Yeah, that was my junior year And whatnot So... Now, speaking of Horizon I wanted to kind of put this out to everybody
[00:38:38] So at CES today Yeah, I was going to text you about this A few announcements One is about a game I love A game Jerry loves Oh yeah But they're now going to make movies out of Helldivers 2 and Horizon Yeah Helldivers 2 Well, they also... No, no, no, no Helldivers is going to work If they do it alright They've already made the movie Super Troopers Exactly, that's why the movie is going to work
[00:39:09] Starship Troopers, not Super Troopers We ain't chugging Maple syrup here Yeah But no, I think Helldivers If they don't like try and throw so much money into it And like give it its life It's going to do well Horizon I trust Sony That's their baby They're going to handle it with care I just can't wait to see it There's already a campaign going around on Twitter That Joris the man
[00:39:36] The composer of the soundtrack Kind of started They're like, hey, we're all on board As long as the original composer's back Sweet And I joined in I was like, give me Joris the man Give me Julie Elvin Those... Helldivers 2, man No, no It's going to work No, dude That can create a franchise Just an action Great action franchise It needs to be one movie I'm going to say it right now It needs to only be one movie Or stay one movie
[00:40:05] Yeah, absolutely But then they also They also announced Until Dawn Is in production as well Why? Just let it die I don't think that's needed That's in Choose Your Own Adventure though Yeah, but still The story was still structured Throughout the game So like they can still But so are a lot of other ones Like Detroit Becoming Human Or... Detroit Becoming Human Way better choice They could have totally done any of those I think that was a way
[00:40:35] That was a way Yeah, just let until now Don die Don has come already Don has come already Let me ask this So, Wade, from a class perspective Right? Would you ever consider doing something like A Detroit Become Human With the philosophical discussions That are in that game But it's also A kind of choose your own Path to see what Your choice ramifications are That's actually That's actually an interesting question
[00:41:04] Given the fact that Robots were just announced At the last Tesla meeting Yeah We could Or the Tesla showcase Whatever that thing was Yeah, we could We could be heading down that road Let me ask you this question If you were to put together A basic topic of curriculum What would you focus on For Detroit? For me, it would be The philosophical and ethical morality
[00:41:31] Of introducing AI into Modern day society Okay That's where I would look at it Because that's I mean, it talks about Or B is Because it deals with Civil rights I would go You know Dive into the civil rights movement Of America And use Detroit as that Mechanism, that vehicle
[00:42:01] To really talk about what it was like Because there are very Poignant points In Detroit Become Human Where all you have to do Is replace The robots With the African Americans That were going through On, you know Down in the south You know So you could do either You could do either one I would probably go more with the civil rights movement Good, so
[00:42:31] I think that I think that having some kind of idea of like, okay, this is what I took personally from the game Because here's the thing, like, these games on the surface are about what they're about But when we bring all of our experiences, a friend of mine recently said, we are our experiences And so whatever we are consuming, we automatically bring every experience we've ever had And that brings a lens to that particular medium
[00:42:58] So whatever it is that was particularly meaningful to you, that's where you would kind of extract it and say, okay, can I do some research, build in some lectures around this, and how would that flow with the flow of the game? And so that's, that's my starting point So I never really look at a game and I say, I want to turn that into a class Instead, I think to myself, what was the impact that that had on me? How did it help me think differently? So for example, I'm playing metaphor right now while I'm also reading Thomas More's Utopia
[00:43:28] And they're great companion pieces, okay? And as I'm doing this, I'm thinking to myself, is there a message or a meaning that is particularly insightful that's helping me learn and orient to my community and civilization better? That may be completely bankrupt by the end of it, you know?
[00:43:47] But for me personally, I'm a learner by like nature. And so every game I told, I said on stream one time, my GameStop is right next door to a Barnes and Noble, and it is always a double stop for me. Oh, sweet. Yeah. And then I go buy a book that I think is going to correspond to that. And sometimes it hits, sometimes it doesn't. But that's my rule for gaming. Very cool. I feel like if you threw in a target in that mix, you're screwed.
[00:44:17] I would actually kind of look at it into a more modern take, more closer towards with the Detroit subject. I would look more towards comparing it to like iRobot to... I was thinking the same thing. Where do we draw the line to how we treat the robots? We can still throw in the social aspect there, but it's also to a degree, do we consider them tools?
[00:44:44] You know, just like pets, we consider them family. They have souls, you know? Where do we draw the line there? Or like with iRobot. Because to a degree, as humans, we embrace them after so long and they're helping us. Yeah, the level of trust. The level of trust and the relationship that can be drawn from that, you know, that's very interesting. And then, you know, if something needs a repair or if you just, you know, replace it, is it that easy?
[00:45:11] I would look more into that aspect of if they were introduced to the world, how would we accept them and treat them, you know, in that way? Are they going to stay tools or do they become more? Since we're talking about that, that makes me think that you can add on to curriculum another movie that I hope that everybody has seen with the good old Robin Williams Bicentennial man. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I love that movie too.
[00:45:41] Your thing, because he is a robot, he is a servant, he is learning, he ends up becoming a family member, working his way into becoming a real person. Yeah. But to a degree, because then he had to fight for his humanity, even though he made artificial organs that humans were using. But he was still being considered robot. But then later on, he was given his humanity. And you know what's funny about this? Yeah, that's a great example.
[00:46:09] I can see Wade just nodding and he's like, this is exactly what my curriculum is about. This is what I do, man. This is what I do. This is what I do. Where is it, baby? Yeah. These are the questions and conversations we have when we're discussing what is our final thesis paper going to be. And so, like for my 16 class, I presented the game and I said, so what are the messages that you are taking from this?
[00:46:30] And so I had final papers where a student researched Hinduism and the impact on cultural civilization throughout the ages. Fascinating paper. Another one looked at all of the different deities represented in 16 and compared to different representations in Northern America. Wow. And that was awesome. I like, I'm really trying to get permission to share some of those papers. Just because they're so, so good. Yeah.
[00:47:00] Like, no, yeah. Listen, I mean, that's, that's the beauty of these games. It's like, you just lay it out there and then you ask the question. So what'd you take from that? And suddenly that's the elements of a curriculum design. Yeah. And then I think it also adds to the fact of how good, like some of the games and me and Jay, we still work at a video game store. And we always say like, you know what, if you want story based games, get a PlayStation. If you want like more action, go get an Xbox.
[00:47:28] If you have a family, get a Nintendo, you know, it's, it's kind of a basic, but the main thing that I'm trying to get to is that the story that, you know, we use Detroit human, you know, Matt has like a civil rights class. Jerry and Theo having more like a more class into like, how do you have the robots like in society and stuff like that. Integrate into society. Yeah.
[00:47:53] Like I would probably do it as an ethics thing as well, where it's like, Hey, do you consider robots to be, you know, property or like something more? And yeah, that does. Or when it does go into that even more is like, do you think of it as injustice? If you see something wrong with a robot, you know, like something like that. Because technically they're property. So like, if we jump in, if we something, see something wrong or, or are we in the wrong?
[00:48:23] Or even more so, like, does it, do we become like the humans on Wally, you know, where, you know, it's all of a sudden become sent to you. Or do we, or does Skynet happen? Yeah. We just send the robots out, you know? That's right. Never forget Skynet. I think it's just having that mentality of like, seeing the story, seeing like everyone's perspective on it. And I think that's like, that, that's what you're going with, with your classes.
[00:48:50] And I'm like, yo man, that's, that is something next level that we need to start embracing. I feel like the new, the next level of the next generation needs to start embracing a little bit. Well, and that's, that's where I, as the instructor have to think to myself, okay, so how can I take this even to the next level for those in my class? So you mentioned all these ideas of ethics. Well, there's all of these ethicists that have come up with philosophies and practices and stuff.
[00:49:19] So it's my job to curate those and kind of create a buffet and say, okay, where are you seeing some of these matchings? So what, one of the things that I do as a teacher is I listen to my students and the things that they're particularly interested in. And so just because I've got the syllabus set doesn't mean that my work is done. Like I just like put it on autopilot or autoplay or whatever.
[00:49:40] I'm going to go to the library and I'm going to be like, okay, so what are some of these theories and philosophies that I need to brush up on that may be out of my system, but I can share and provide for my students so that they can really do something that they are interested in. And that's part of my goal as a, as a teacher professor in those settings.
[00:50:02] And I think that's what makes good teachers, good teachers is because you're not, you're not just stuck in one specific way, like my way or the highway. It's oh, it's not the same. You're thinking outside the box. You're trying to get them and that's the best way. That's awesome. So if it was with college though, I will say, because like with college students and you can do this a little bit with high schoolers, middle schoolers, it's way tougher, but you can try it. Um, you think of yourselves as a collaborative scholarship.
[00:50:31] Like you have experiences that I don't have, even though I've got mileage on me versus you. Right. So like, let's, let's kind of think through those things. What, why are you bringing this to the table? And what, what can we learn from that as a class and me as even as your instructor? It's good stuff. Yeah.
[00:50:50] So if, since we're talking about like horizon and, and hell divers and stuff, if you could pick one game to be made into a movie, what would your personal movie choice be? It's so tricky because I really feel like the games that I love the most are already so immersive, you know? Like, I mean, I, I don't want to see a final fantasy movie.
[00:51:18] We kind of did that with spirits within that did not translate. Well, did anybody see that? I took a date on it. You know, I don't recommend. Yeah. No, it was terrible. It hadn't. I felt like it had nothing to do with final. It was around that time where they just, they bought the title. They bought the name. Yeah. And you know, they, they were some final fantasy seven life streamy sort of sequences in it. It's fine. Um, but it wasn't particularly good. Um, I think they tried it again with Advent Children.
[00:51:44] And then finally with Kingsglaive, which I use in my class, we just, I preface and I'm like, guys, y'all, this movie is not very good. And then we finish it. And they're like, that was better than, I was like, yeah, I had to go in the bar. Set the bar. You set the expectation. Like, okay, like be prepared. That's it. And I like really go all out. I'm like, we're going to order pizzas. We're going to turn this into a great class time because I know that it could derail their interest for this game pretty quickly.
[00:52:13] So it's like, I got to make it really fun. Um, but so we weirdly would my apologies for using part of the soundtrack for your promo video. No, no, no, no. Listen, I love Kingsglaive. I love it. I adore it, but I understand what it is. I like to say about 15 in general, it's a seven out of 10 game. That's a 10 out of 10 in my heart. So like, I, I think we all have those games. Yeah. For me though.
[00:52:40] I, I think video game movies and media do best when they, um, are either building a story that only existed in your imagination beforehand. So like Mario and Sonic, I think do this amazing. Oh yeah. Because these are the adventures that we dreamed that they would have when they weren't, you know, on the screen with us. It's like, Oh, I bet Sonic and Tails would do this sort of thing. Or Mario and Luigi, you know, they had, it's like all those kinds of things.
[00:53:09] But when you're trying to translate something that the story is so canonized to a screen, it's challenging. That's why I love the last of us because they said, yeah, you had the experience of the game, but this is a whole new canvas. We're going to add some things, some vert subvert some expectations. So like, that's what I love. Um, if they can do that, um, but to not cop out, give you an answer. I think Astro Bot would be a great one to really build. Hey, game of the year.
[00:53:39] I started playing it about a week ago and I adore this game. I just got to the giant. You just want more points with Matt. Oh man. I love it. The game. Honestly, my, my kids keep playing the game. Like, I think that's for me when you have a game that your kids will just constantly play over and over again. That says a lot.
[00:54:03] Like right now, Jerry will understand this when I go, when I go this route is I've introduced my kids to Star Wars through the Lego Star Wars game. Like they're playing through it and then they see the movies in my catalog or like my, my library. And they're like, he's like, I just finished that. Like, and he's sitting down and watching the movies now. Oh, that's good.
[00:54:31] Because he's played through all these different ones. Like at the return of the Jedi fight against the emperor in the game, it's Lego Luke and Lego Darth Vader. Yeah. Battling Palpatine together and stuff like that. I'm like, that didn't exactly happen that way in the movie. Yeah. But we'll watch it so you can see it. Like he is so excited now to go see the re-release of episode three for the anniversary in May. Wait.
[00:55:00] It is going to be his first Star Wars on the big screen. Oh, in the big screen. That's going to be awesome. For me it was Phantom Menace. No, it wasn't Phantom Menace. It was, sorry. It was New Hope when they did the re-release back in 96. When they got retouched to go to digital and updated. Yeah. And they re-released the whole three movies. Yeah. Me and me and grandma went to all three, man. Oh, man. I love that.
[00:55:29] That was my first time as well going to see them in the movie. So as we close this night out, because it is already at the top of the hour. Oh, are you serious, man? Yeah. See? God. This is what happens when you come to game night. Anyways. So speaking of game night, this is a question we've asked of every single guest in the history of our show, their first time on the show is when you have the ability to have a game night with their friends and family.
[00:55:57] What is your favorite game to play for game night? Regardless if it's a board game, card game, video game, whatever it is. What is your favorite game for game night? Oh, man. Mario Party. Oh, my. It is, man. Like, I love Mario Party because, especially if I want to remove someone from my life, that game ends for a new year. It's just fine. Like, I love it.
[00:56:26] So if I'm ever around you, Wade, and you bring up being Mario Party, I'm going to ask, what did I do wrong? Who are we eliminating? Yeah. But you know I'll love you if I let you win. It means I keep you. You let me win. Damn, I'm that bad team. It's just that I'm not good, bro. Oh, nice. There it is. There it is. I mean, that's like Settlers. Oh, shut up. Oh, shut up. It is. Mario Party has been liking the Settlers, hasn't it? Yes. Many times.
[00:56:57] So, anyways, I want to thank, you know, everybody who crashed game night with us tonight. We had several new people that joined in. Thank you for you guys. I know you guys were here for Professor, but thank you for giving us a chance to entertain you for the night, give you some laughs, give you a little bit of distraction from the daily grind on that. You know, for the first time watchers, if you like, share, drop us a follow. You can also head on over to crashing game night dot com. We have a contributors and guest page where you can check out all our past guests, including the profile we have for perfection.
[00:57:27] Professor Noctis himself with all the links to his social medias and everything like that. But, guys, just with everything going on in the world right now, like overseas here, here, stateside, you know, just please be excellent to each other. That's right, everybody. We just want to continue spreading that same message after every episode. Wade, thank you so much for joining.
[00:57:55] This was such an interesting discussion and I can't I hope for more success and for you to go even further with your curriculum and creating more because you're really helping out there. And it was just so much fun to learn more from you. And I mean, the pleasure was mine. Like we've been trying to happen for a while. I'm so glad. Like, it's been so fun. Thank you guys. Thank you so much. And then once again, we just want to spread.
[00:58:23] Let's just try to do and be better out there. It is like Matt said, it's crazy abroad and home in the homestead. Let's just try to eyeball any kind of moments that we can help lend a hand. Just sit and listen. Let's just try and practice to be a little bit more open and accepting. And let's be safe out there to Jay Rock, Jay Bone to you, baby.
[00:58:51] Yeah, again, Professor, thank you so much. It is. It's quite eye opening. And again, it's one of those things where I hope it does catch on, especially with our new generation of people that are so phone addicted, you know, that is just like, you know, they don't know what to do in a library kind of situation, but it's okay. It's it's we're evolving. It's fine. It's fine. But thank you so much for your time. Yes.
[00:59:20] Ladies and gentlemen, people out there. It is the first week of the new year. Please let's happy new year. Yeah. Happy new year guys. I haven't been able to say happy new to you guys like, yeah, well, I face to face, you know, you know, happy new year guys. Anyways, please. Please. It's only seven, six days, seven days, if you want to count it into the new year. We are. We got a lot to look forward to 2025 is going to be a fun and interesting year.
[00:59:47] So please let us just look like Jerry said and likes to take my thunder sometimes. Just be nice to each other. Just, you know, start off your resolutions. Go through with it. You know, go, go, go that one month, you know, every day is a new day. And I already started to push. Yeah. We'll be able to push through all the way to the new year. But you know, one of the things that I get to say for the first time this new year,
[01:00:14] my man, my man, the Walski send us up the 2025 ladder with this way. You do. Wade. Thank you again as well. We really hope that you join us again. We would just talk and shop or whatever. It was fun. Open invite. I mean, we'll go off the rail with movies and games to just fill and just trying to compare it to other things. But you need an idea. We'll be your idea machine. Whatever you need.
[01:00:43] I've been taking classes for years now. But all out there. Thank you for watching. Thanks for listening. Until next time. TTFN. Good night, everybody. Good night, everybody.