Welcome back to House Lights, your one stop shop for everything you need to hear about this week in the world of entertainment. As always, I'm your host, Liz Noss, joined by my beautiful, wonderful cohost Claire Donahoe. And also joined by one of my favorites at the same news.
Demonte:Demonte Thomas.
Liz:I am so excited to have you on. And if you couldn't tell by our beautiful production thank you, podcast coordinator Taylor. We are gonna talk a little bit about, I guess, you could call it retro games, just like the gaming of our childhood. You know, some some Wiis, some DSs. And I I just wanna point out that while we were off camera, Demonte clocked this DS.
Liz:Because I was like, oh my gosh. Taylor has a DS. And Demonte goes, oh, the 3DS XL.
Demonte:3DS XL.
Liz:How did you clock that, Demonte?
Demonte:Well, you know, I still have my blue 3DS XL.
Liz:Oh my god, yours are twins?
Demonte:Yeah, not sponsored. True.
Liz:This is not sponsored.
Demonte:Yeah, I still have mine. I think I got it, like, back in, like, 2015? Okay. 1415? Yeah.
Demonte:Twenty fifteen. As like a Christmas gift. You know, I think my most favorite game on that, you know, 3DS was Lego Lord of the Rings.
Liz:Oh. Oh.
Demonte:You know? Yeah. But, yeah, it was it was super it was super fun.
Liz:No. So, yeah, I wanna talk about today some of our favorite games. So, like because I feel like I don't know. I have so many memories with, like, gaming, like, in my head, but I feel like I wouldn't really label myself as a gamer girl. I'm sorry.
Liz:If you can't tell, I'm stuffed up. I'm a little bit allergies right now, so I'd like to apologize to the to the three people listening to house lights and to you guys. But, yeah, I definitely have some of my favorite favorite games I want to talk about. And yeah, just core memories from childhood.
Claire:From back in our day.
Liz:From back in our day. So I want to ask everyone what their relationship with gaming was as a kid.
Demonte:And I'm
Liz:going to go to Claire first. Okay. Who I feel like had probably the most granola out of all of us childhood.
Claire:Okay. I wouldn't say granola, but
Liz:I just always wonder.
Claire:I just assume. What I will say is I definitely can already tell at this table I have the least amount of gaming experience and knowledge. What I'll offer is this. I had a DS. Mhmm.
Claire:I was also given it for Christmas. Yeah. My pride and joy. I had about four games that I rotated.
Demonte:Yeah.
Claire:The only game that, like, consistently, if you put in front of me that I will know and understand and be really excited for is Mario Kart.
Demonte:Oh,
Claire:it's Any capacity, any time. Played that on the DS, on the Wii, everything. But do you win? I think I I I would like to believe I had a prime, maybe at like 14, not I had a DS. I used to play a lot of games online, like the iCarly website and like the Victoria's website back before right?
Claire:Yeah, right, right at the birth of like, Facebook and Instagram and like all that stuff. That was still always on your desktop computer. We'd have family desktop and I would like, make sure my brothers weren't using it and like sneak in and use it not sneak but like, really, right in that little chair for hours and play. So that was kind of my gaming experience. Growing up, we did not have a Wii at our house.
Claire:We, my brothers are like into video games, kind of, but it was definitely a later and I would say less aggressive, like, start to video games for them. So I guess granola, like, we were just, like, outside doing they were just, like, playing in dirt instead, I guess. But my grandparents had a Wii in their basement. So all the memories I have from, like, playing old games come from going to other people's houses. So going to my grandparents, like, that's when we would play the Wii.
Claire:And, like, we would, you know, get to have the Mario Kart wheel attached to the Wii controller. Like, that's when we really we leveled up. And then I have I have memories of going to my friends' houses and, like, playing Just Dance, doing stuff of that nature. I could never offer that up at my house. That just wasn't wasn't familiar.
Claire:Oh my god. This just came to me. This game, Sweet Deo, super weird, like, cartoon, like, candy collection game, I want to say. I used to play that with my friend Megan all the time. Like, just random little games that they had either on their TVs or, like, their family desktops.
Claire:But as for my own personal connection to it, is that what it's called?
Liz:This is Media. All right. Can I find it?
Claire:All right. Well, if anyone knows what Sweet Deo is, or if that's even what it's called. Needless to say, I have a very weird, scattered relationship with gaming. But for me personally, it was really the iCarly website
Liz:Yes.
Claire:And my DS, where I would play like the Nintendogs Well, yes. Game. I would I would go to GameStop. I would be, like, picking out those little cards that you put into the DS. You know what I'm talking about?
Claire:Yeah. I could not tell you if my life depended on it, where the DS went, where I kept the games. I think I had a little blue case, actually, that really brought back some memories. And I was into it for like a while, but had a lasting impact. So I'm really eager to see what you guys have to say.
Claire:And if it unlocks any other things for me that I'm just not thinking of right now. Well, yes. Yeah.
Liz:So talking about losing your DS, I feel like every single year, I lose my DS and then I find it
Claire:somewhere else. Just to clarify here, you two are still using your DSs to this
Demonte:day? No.
Claire:Oh. You, okay.
Liz:So I'm the gamer girl, which is like whatever.
Claire:Okay. Is still using Demonte, just really quickly. Okay. Do you you don't use a DS, but would you say you game?
Liz:Are you a gamer? Yes.
Claire:Are you a gamer? Okay. Just checking in. Liz, go ahead. I just wanted to see why
Liz:I do use a DS, but I don't consider myself a gamer is that Okay. I'm not a gamer girl.
Claire:So we have all different types of levels here because I wouldn't consider myself a gamer, but I'll do it if my friends are doing it.
Liz:See, but here's the thing. I'm saying I don't consider myself a gamer. Literally, me and my roommates, including Williams of the State News, we played a tournament style Mario Sluggers baseball game last night. Mhmm. We have a whiteboard in our living room that has all of our scores on So would that classify me as a gamer?
Liz:It's social.
Claire:It's social. I would do it socially. I'm usually not the one pushing for it because I just didn't really grow up doing that. Mia is
Liz:the one that pushes
Claire:for But I will participate if someone is like, let's do Wii Sports. Right. Let's, like my roommates got a Wii and I wasn't really here or there. Sorry, quick aside, the game, I don't know if you can count this as a game. The activity that's taken over my house recently is Guitar Hero.
Claire:Cooking that up to the TV has been revolutionary for my roommates and I and that is something that
Liz:What do you play? You play a certain because there's different instruments, right?
Claire:We just have the because
Liz:I know that there's also, like, drum attachments and stuff.
Claire:You can also get a microphone. So we did have a couple of karaoke sessions in which one roommate would sing and the other two would battle on the guitar. Woah. So, yeah. Sorry.
Claire:I just that's been really taking over, clearly, my mind and my my roommate's life. But, yeah, it's a social thing. So I just Yeah. Are you a solo gamer ever? No.
Claire:With the DS?
Liz:Not now. Probably. Every once in while, like, when I find my DS, even but find is, like, such a weird word because I feel like I just forget where I put it when I leave my house. Like, when I
Claire:what losing something is.
Liz:Yeah. Okay. Hey. You're being rude. When I leave my mother's house for Christmas break, I do not bring it with me.
Liz:Forget where it is. But then the next Christmas break, I will find it And it was this little it's it was just a normal DS. I'm sorry. It was just a normal DS. It was red.
Liz:It had a little Mario thing on it. It was, like, on the thing. It was, like, a white m for Mario. And then if you open it which, by the way, you know, like, this thing that props it up? It's completely broken.
Liz:It just flaps
Claire:feel like that's a That's, like, a classic.
Liz:Classic Classic experience. Oh, yeah. Classic. And then on the inside spineless DS. Yeah.
Liz:It's a sticker of Victoria Justice from Victoria's that I stuck on there, and it's been there since. But, anyway, so really encapsulates my touch up. I met by the way, house lights, I met Robbie Shapiro from Victorious. I just had to put that out there. Maybe maybe on this episode, there because it was also a state news or Campbell Burke, a great photographer.
Liz:Yeah. Maybe on this episode, I'll upload the picture of me and Campbell and Robbie Shapiro eating carrots together.
Claire:We totally forgot to discuss that and
Liz:I just had to put that out there. Sorry. Yeah. No. I'm really happy for you.
Liz:Thank you. I met him. He was really nice. He was actually his, like, stage presence while he's, like, doing his, like, DJ thing is, like, really crazy. And then when we met him afterwards with his veggie tray, which is the biggest veggie tray I've ever seen a man carry, and he was just, like, walking through the venue with it.
Claire:I mean
Liz:And we're, like Real. He was like, can you please eat some of these? And we're like, sure. Yeah. He's like, they gave me a really big veggie tray.
Liz:I said, you're right. And so he was just, like, very chill. He's like, hey. Like, how are guys doing? Like, that's awesome.
Liz:Like, very soft spoken, which I thought was funny because he plays Robbie Shapiro.
Claire:Right. Yeah. He's incredible.
Demonte:And he has Rex, you know.
Liz:And he has Rex. He signed because the we had bought a poster that night. He signed it, MB, as in Matt Bennett
Demonte:Mhmm.
Liz:And Rex. And then wrote, you know the song that he sings Ariana Grande when she is she takes off the blonde wig Yeah. When she's because, you know, she's in the blonde squad, then she takes off blonde wig and the guy that she likes doesn't like her anymore. And Robbie Shapiro has to come and cheer her up. He wrote, I think you're on the thing because in
Demonte:the Oh, wow.
Liz:In the show, he sings, I think you're swell. That was like, do you wanna get married? He's 33.
Claire:He totally has a DS still.
Liz:Oh, yes. Okay. Tying back.
Claire:He totally has a DS still.
Liz:Yes. Okay. Yeah. Totally. But I had a great time.
Liz:I met my number one somebody crush, and I told him that the reason I I went into journalism was because of Roborazzi. And he goes, what? I go,
Demonte:oh. Oh.
Liz:And then he goes, so do you do, like, celebrity profiles? And I'm like, why do you wanna be interviewed? I'll interview you right now. I didn't ask him that, but I thought it might have.
Demonte:I've been in slashed.
Liz:And then I told him that I interviewed The Bachelor, and he goes, the good one or the mean one? And I go, that's up to interpretation. Period.
Claire:Yeah. So I hate banter.
Liz:There was a lot of attention. Liz is engaged. So I'm engaged with 33 year old Matt Bennett. But anyways Do you
Claire:have to, like, a no. What? I was gonna make some stupid joke about the puppet
Liz:that I'm not Oh my god. Couldn't do. Yes. The puppet can be part of the marriage is what I was gonna say. But anyways, so, yeah, I had a Victoria's sticker on my DS.
Claire:When did you get the DS?
Liz:There's probably a picture of me getting it for either my birthday or Christmas when I had, like, a bob.
Claire:Okay.
Liz:Like, a very blonde bob. So probably around, like, ten. Okay. Maybe, like, nine ish. Because I also had a Wii.
Liz:Later in life, I got a Switch, which I didn't use as much. But every once in a while, if I find it again, yet again, if I find it, I'll play, like, a little Kirby. I'd Undertale on that because I was a weird middle schooler. And then what else do have on that? Mario Kart, of course.
Liz:Yeah. Mario Kart is a classic.
Claire:So the Switch was, like I only learned what that was, I think, at at, like, the end of high school or, like, the beginning of college. I feel like I met a lot of people that were using Switch. And I think my one of my brothers got one. So I can have I, like, have visions of seeing it, but
Liz:Well, I I did have a switch that you can, like, put up on the TV. So it was really, you're talking about individual gaming. This was what I was individual gaming on because it was one of the ones you just, like
Claire:Did by yourself?
Liz:Yeah. It's not because, know, like, there's the one that you can, like, take off. You can, like, hook it up
Claire:to a TV. Yeah.
Liz:Yeah. I don't have that one. I just had, like, the I think it's, like, the Switch Lite then. It was blue. It was cute.
Liz:But, yeah, I I got that when I wasn't that into gaming anymore. But it's it's fun every once in a while. I really like playing my DS because of the nostalgia factor. Mhmm. And then the Wii is just, like, super social.
Liz:I mean, me and Demonte can chat about how
Demonte:we Yeah.
Liz:You know?
Demonte:And, you
Liz:know, I I This past Saturday
Demonte:I got my play. And I I got, you know, beaten in pretty much every single game.
Liz:He got so beat by me in table tennis and sword play this weekend
Demonte:on Wii Sports Resort. The man.
Liz:Sword play?
Claire:Is an option on Wii Sports.
Demonte:Yeah. Yeah.
Liz:Dude, there's oh, it's Wii Sports Resort, baby. Sorry. There's a coliseum where you, like, fight to the death with swords.
Demonte:I tried, you know
Liz:My method is great, though. Because I literally Yeah. Wii's sword I tried doing
Demonte:that. Cold. That feels like it's cheating. Cause, you know, like No. It's not.
Demonte:You're just spamming.
Claire:I agree.
Demonte:It's just like, you
Liz:guys are no fun.
Claire:Fight in the comments, viewers.
Liz:Try not to be mad when someone spams.
Demonte:No. Wait. It it's it's the equivalent of spamming move. It's it's the equivalent of spending a same move and more combat, whatever. You're just button smashing, except you're not button smashing.
Demonte:You're just
Liz:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I lost. I lost.
Liz:Then, there was a strategy game that we played that was the speed duel. And who won that as well? That was me. Mhmm. So it's strategy and a little bit of spamming.
Liz:Thank you. Thank you. Didn't mean to clock you on half slides, but
Demonte:I'm Hey, man. Listen. I I lost to eSports Resort. I'll I'm I'm, you know, I'm brave enough to admit that on camera.
Liz:That is super brave. But, you know
Claire:Yeah.
Liz:What was your relationship with gaming as a kid before we get into our favorite games?
Demonte:So, you know, before I get into, like, you know, Nintendo or whatever, nick dot com, cartoon network dot com.
Liz:Did I ever say disneychannel.com was mine?
Demonte:Disneychannel.com. Yes. Guys, when I
Liz:Still exist.
Demonte:When I say Nick.com was my go to
Liz:I have another one to say. Sorry.
Demonte:No. You're fine. Nick.com was my go to whenever I tried playing a game. It was like this weird, fairly odd parents game. I can't remember the name.
Demonte:But for Cartoon Network, goes like this cold name Kids Next Door game. That and, you know, I think it was Powerpuff Girls and I forgot, like, the premise of that game. That and, you know, this regular show game. But, you know, just like online gaming, like, Disney Channel gaming, you know, you know, I'm I'm I'm familiar with it, but not as familiar as, you know, like, what games they had back in the day. Because, like, Disney Channel was actually, you know, good.
Demonte:Yeah. No. You know, I don't wanna Disney Channel is not good now. But, you know, the games, you know, I remember seeing, like, my cousins, like, actively playing, like I forgot the name of it, but it's like this one specific kind of a tennis game on our website. I wouldn't say, like, cartoonnetwork.com, you know, nick.com.
Demonte:A little bit of cool maths games here and there.
Claire:Yeah. I was about say. Cool math games.
Liz:Sorry. Guys, I don't mean to be, like, gagging over here, but I just found this this website called Disney Games, and it's all these old
Demonte:That's the game.
Liz:This is the game. The Wireless Quest one Yes. Where it's you're on the cell phone Oh my god. Trying to find Miley's diary.
Demonte:That's the Wow.
Liz:Thoughts on this? Is that copyrighted? Anyways. Taylor help. But I just I know what I'm doing tonight.
Liz:I know what I'm doing.
Claire:Love it. Plans made.
Demonte:Oh, yeah.
Claire:Wow. Cool Math Games. Let's let's touch on that quickly. Let's say our favorites. And then also, really quickly, I have a question and a comment.
Claire:Fire Boy and Water
Liz:Girl. Oh.
Claire:That was not part of Cool Math Games?
Liz:It was
Demonte:part of Cool Math Yes.
Claire:That one because
Liz:I was gonna say that's
Claire:Then I'm gonna say that that's my favorite because that stuck with me far longer than it should have. I would play that on break at my lifeguarding shifts well into high school alone. Would control both sides of the keyboard.
Liz:That's what you're supposed to do.
Claire:You're supposed to play with another person, I think.
Liz:No. Really?
Claire:Yeah. Yeah. You're totally supposed to like sit buddy buddy next to the keyboard and play. But but then
Liz:Oh, then I just was like a lonely only child.
Claire:Well, no. I would play alone for fun sometimes too to see if I could do it.
Liz:Don't make me feel better.
Claire:No. Okay. No. Anyway, it's my favorite game.
Demonte:You know, like, whenever you get like break time or whatever, math games, that is if it wasn't blocked by the school, you know, if you experienced that, you know, comment well. But, you know
Claire:The knife game censorship in your school?
Demonte:Yeah. Censorship. They really crack down on
Claire:that, man. What was the one with the sugar?
Demonte:It was Oh,
Claire:sugar, I think. Oh.
Liz:Is what it was
Demonte:called. Is it just called sugar?
Liz:Sugar. Yeah.
Demonte:I feel like it should be called, like, Sugar Rush or something.
Liz:That's what was. I think it was Sugar Rush.
Demonte:Is it called Sugar Rush?
Claire:That one was good.
Liz:Sugar Rush.
Claire:Those were the only two I played because they didn't actually involve No.
Liz:Sugar Rush is the
Demonte:Wreck it Ralph.
Liz:The game from Wreck it Ralph.
Demonte:Yeah. Okay. So I
Claire:think it might just be called
Demonte:Sugar. Sugar.
Liz:Alright. But It's called Sugar Sugar. Sugar sugar sugar. Which is funny because that's a little inside joke we have to say to.
Demonte:Sugar sugar
Liz:sugar sugar.
Demonte:Anyways, Claire's not in. Claire's not in on You gotta be in a no to no. Porter thing. But, yeah, I wanna say, like, besides Fire Girl and Water Boy. Oh, the Papa's games?
Demonte:Papa Pizzeria Man. But, like, which Papa
Liz:game, though? Because I'm more of a Papa's like freezer person.
Demonte:You know, I'm I'm more of like a OG kind
Liz:of person. Oh. Oh.
Demonte:You know?
Liz:Hey. Gotta respect tradition. You gotta respect your elders.
Demonte:But yeah, like besides that, it was this one game. I don't think it was some cool math. But I vividly remember playing it on PC. It's like a bakery game. You make, like, cakes or pies or whatever.
Liz:Okay.
Demonte:And it's like you it's like it's a rush. Like, you have to keep doing it because customers keep coming in, whatever. But yeah, I think besides like, you know, online games, my earliest memory of are you playing sugar sugar right now?
Liz:Sugar? Messed up the levels.
Demonte:No. It's alright. I think my earliest memory of, like, just gaming itself had to been I wanna say watching my oldest brothers, like, play, like, like, the original Xbox. We still have our original Xbox. Like, the first Xbox come out, period.
Demonte:Not, you know, the first Xbox three sixty. But just watching them play, you know, various games or whatnot. And I just, you know, just like watching them play games like it's entertaining. I love watching people play. Yeah, like before, you know, we have like, PewDiePie or Markiplier that like just watching my older siblings play.
Demonte:That was my Markiplier PewDiePie. Yeah, just watching just watching them react to the game, whatever.
Liz:That's so interesting.
Demonte:Yeah. But it was it was it was fun. I tried, you know, tried by getting a turn at it, but, you know, it's super rare for me, like, actually playing, like, the original Xbox because it's more like, no, you gotta be older to play it.
Liz:Yeah. Yeah.
Demonte:But but, yeah, I think besides that, I wanna say PlayStation, two, PS two.
Liz:Because we also have that in our house.
Demonte:Yeah. I'm trying to think of it.
Liz:Thank you, the Han family.
Demonte:I try to think of the game for PS two. I'm blinking on a game.
Liz:I can add mine if you'd like, if it would open up anything.
Demonte:Yeah. Yeah.
Liz:The games that we have on PS two that Mia is like Mia's my roommate. Me talking at a house, so it's like, whatever. That Mia Han, my roommate, has and she is obsessed with, and she's now gotten everybody to be obsessed with, is tricky. And it's a snowboarding tricks game. And we'll just, like, come back like, me and Alex will come back from the rave.
Liz:Right? And Mia will just be sitting there playing tricky. Like, we left her, and she was playing tricky. And then we'll come back, and she's playing tricky. And she's like, okay.
Liz:I meant like, chapter nine is a trick book now. I got this trick. You know how I was struggling with this when you guys left? Well, I actually just mastered it. Do you wanna see me do it?
Liz:And we're like, well, yes. Of course, we do.
Claire:Yeah. Go ahead.
Liz:Yeah. Go ahead, girl. And then we also did a clean run last year of Disney's enchanted adventure. Mhmm. Okay.
Liz:Which is just like a Disney princess game that's, like, made for children. Yeah. And we literally sat down for, like, two days and just played the whole thing.
Demonte:Yeah. Yeah.
Liz:Super clean.
Claire:Do you guys have I guess when you said what is it? Papa's Pizzeria?
Demonte:Yeah.
Claire:Is that what it's called? One of my roommates is really, really into that. One of my roommates, like, Sonya loves phone games and we, like, make fun of her a lot because if she zones out, I'm like, you cooking pizza for some stranger on there, like, are you doing over there? Yeah. Seriously.
Claire:We're like, so you have a bunch of games on
Liz:your phone or your laptop.
Claire:And she has a laptop that the one where you can, like, fold it over and it kind of becomes an iPad. Oh, yeah. Then she would, like, just for fun, play on, like, the big screen and we're like, dude, this has gone too far. Anyway iPad, baby. That reminded me of phone games.
Claire:And I wanna ask you about those. Yes. Not phone games, like, Mhmm. But I'm talking, like, before people were sucked into TikTok, Instagram, social media, like, when you first got your iPod touch or whatever you're working with. I'm thinking like temple run.
Claire:I'm thinking flappy bird. I'm personally thinking
Liz:angry birds, angry birds.
Demonte:Oh, yeah. Angry birds, dude.
Claire:Temple run. Yeah, I was obsessed with for some reason. I have clear visions of like that's when I would watch people play. When you talk about watching people play games, I don't really like to watch people play games. Was the only thing about my younger brothers that they would do that I wouldn't understand.
Claire:I'm like, aren't you bored watching the other play? But but no. Yes. But I could watch someone play Temple Run because I think it was just so fast.
Liz:But that's such a repetitive game, though.
Claire:But I I wanted to watch them to see if I could beat because, you know, like the score just tallies up
Demonte:in the Yeah. It just goes
Claire:fast. A very simple game and that translated to Subway Surfers. Like, I became very, very into just the the simple Mhmm. The simple game in that way.
Liz:Right. Yeah. No. I had tons of games. I actually wanted to touch on this a little bit.
Liz:Mhmm. Because on my eye like, for phone games like, once I got an iPhone, I didn't get an iPhone till, like, seventh grade. So, like Mhmm. I don't real I didn't really have a lot of games. But, like, when I had an iPod touch, I got that, like, probably, like, fourth grade.
Liz:Mhmm. And there was this one Littlest Pet Shop game that, like, I can literally Oh, Littlest Pet picture. Like, so it was, like it was kind of like a pet hotel sort of situation, and you had to make a pet hotel. And I was obsessed with it. I was I literally loved it so much.
Liz:And then, of course, Temple Run. I had Flappy Bird when it was big. Crossy Road.
Demonte:Crossy Road. Oh.
Liz:I love that. And then Jetpack Joyride?
Demonte:Jetpack Joyride. I'm familiar. Listen, man. Yes. I don't know what that guy was, like, stealing from that facility to where he just needed a a jetpack.
Demonte:But, you know
Liz:I think that he was stealing the jetpack. What
Demonte:it makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And like the little scientists are like trying to catch
Liz:the gun like was gruesome because like you actually like when like because like the jetpack shoots out like bullets. Yeah. And like it's actually like you see like if you accidentally hit a scientist that person literally dies.
Demonte:Yeah.
Liz:And it's like, this is not it's like, it's pretty gruesome. But, yeah, it makes you feel a little bad at the end of the day. Also, you know how you're saying, oh, not like modern phone games tonight, still have Jetpack Joy right on my phone and Subway Surfers.
Claire:Speak your truth. Yeah.
Liz:So, yeah, you can check out the latest episode of House Lights and watch Subway Surfers on TikTok.
Demonte:Oh, yeah. You're watching it right now.
Liz:And the same news. Yeah. This clip.
Demonte:Yeah. Below. Yeah.
Claire:But yeah. That's gonna freak me out. Can I ask, was anyone into Webkinz when you said Penguin?
Liz:Was not actually into Webkinz, which is really I don't know. I feel like surprising. Or
Claire:like Club Penguin?
Demonte:Club Penguin. Club Penguin.
Claire:Was not as much into Club Penguin, but I was into webkins. I had one webkin. What's the singular? Maybe two, but one that I distinctly remember actually really taking the time to build a bedroom for and find community for, and that was a bright pink poodle.
Liz:Find space for.
Claire:Find space for. Take it to the doctor, like, you know, make sure I had a pink poodle that I liked a lot. There was I feel like another game of that family that
Liz:I was They did that with Build A Beards, though. And I was a Build A Bear Oh. Because my mom was like, Okay, if you want to get a very expensive stuffed animal, let's make an activity out of it. Instead of webkins, I would get a Build A Bear. And they made its own like, webkinz sort
Claire:of thing.
Liz:Oh. So I did that. K. I didn't know that. Like, where you could, like, register the bear.
Claire:Yeah. I'm trying to think. There's one that I can't think of.
Liz:Webkinz? Nintendogs. He already brought that up.
Claire:Nintendogs. Nintendogs was Club Penguin. There's, like, one more in that family. Maybe I'm thinking of, like, Sims or something. Like, I'm just thinking of
Liz:I played Sims. I did not. I played Sims. I watched other YouTubers play Sims a lot. I guess yeah.
Liz:Did you guys ever watch YouTubers play games?
Demonte:Yeah. No.
Liz:I had a big PewDiePie era. You know? Markiplier.
Demonte:I did that. Markiplier was I wanna I I never really I'm sorry, guys.
Liz:You did it. I'm sorry, guys.
Demonte:Yeah. Like, sorry. Not sorry, but it's like, I don't need to hear you just, like, just
Liz:He was loud.
Demonte:He just Really loud. For no reason. Like, Markiplier, get because him playing like FNAF, you know, junglers. Well, I'm gonna throw out
Liz:something that is probably just a singular experience at this table at least. Watched a lot of Dan and Phil games. Oh. Oh, well, Taylor's nodding.
Demonte:Let's That sound that name sounds so familiar.
Claire:It sounds
Demonte:yeah. It sounds so familiar.
Claire:I I know Dan
Liz:and Phil. I literally just like like back into, like, my middle I
Claire:only watched That name
Liz:is so familiar. I haven't heard it in years.
Claire:I only watched videos people gaming when I would babysit these kids down the street. And they wouldn't want to do anything. Oh, that wasn't harassment. The one that I bumped into the other day who's like a grown adult, which was crazy, who's a freshman here. Yeah, they would watch gaming videos and not really want to talk, which is totally fine because it was early in the morning and they did not want me to be there.
Claire:And yeah, I didn't like it though. I would get like, like a headache watching. You know what we would watch though? Minecraft? Yes.
Claire:Which I played quite a bit of.
Liz:Oh, played Minecraft.
Claire:I played a lot of Minecraft.
Liz:I made a lot of farms.
Claire:No, I like to build houses and then just move on. Would just build one and move right along. One of my friends, as we hooked up Guitar Hero and whatever else they hooked up to our TV, came over during a party and spent the whole party building our house in a Minecraft world.
Liz:I was at this party.
Claire:And I kept thinking like, where's Howie? Like, what's he up to? Planted in a chair in front of the TV, building. And it I mean, it's phenomenal. Even the lighting in the big greenhouse in this other universe is
Liz:That's an example. Well, and it was so funny because at at this party where I saw this happen, there was a game. There were two TVs.
Claire:Yeah. So we had two TVs.
Liz:It was literally the TikTok setup. No. There was a game on the first TV. Right. And then right underneath was your friend Howie putting
Claire:Like a sports game. Like, where you're watching football. Yeah.
Liz:Like a sport yeah. Wasn't like another video game. Yeah. It was a sports game. And then the Minecraft.
Claire:The reason for this can I just defend why my house of seven beautiful, intelligent women have two TVs stacked on top of one another? Yeah. One of the TVs is mounted to the wall in a in a nice way. Thank you to Eva's father who did that for us. The other TV is a recent addition that was re gifted to us, a 50 inches TV that Sonya and I put in our dorm because our friend was giving away a TV.
Claire:And we were like, yeah, we'll take it. Took up literally the entire desk, so big and so old for but it was free, so we took it. We ended up giving it away to our other friends. It's just been the traveling TV. They're done with it, and they gave it back.
Claire:So rather than sell it, like my roommate said we were gonna do, they just decided, let's just leave it on the floor right here, hook it back up, and do two things at once. Much like the kitty
Demonte:Yeah.
Claire:Much like the kitty pool they bought two summers ago, I thought it was gonna be ridiculous, but it's actually kind of fun. And we play Guitar Hero while watching New Girl. So I mean, if it works, it works.
Liz:Make two. For everybody. When you have seven
Claire:more minutes. Exactly. And I was like, guys, this is so ridiculous. It's I literally think I said like, this is like the TikTok thing. Like, do we really need to be doing this?
Claire:Because I'm a Grinch. And then I, I, held the guitar in my hands, and I thought, You fool. Why would you ever think that? This is super fun. So I just felt like I needed to clear the air, because when you walk into my home, it is a little bit of like, Do we really need to be doing all this?
Claire:Like, probably not. But it's
Liz:The girl who says TikTok's ruining your brain has two TVs in her house. That
Demonte:So
Liz:He did me.
Claire:I've been caught there.
Liz:Yes.
Demonte:But I like that story. Darius and others, you know, YouTuber. I watch. Cory X Kenshin. Taylor knows.
Demonte:Knows. But you know Mom to watch. Okay. For those who don't know who Corey Extinction is, you know, he plays, like, a lot of games. He is notoriously known for, like, disappearing and, like, reappearing or whatever.
Demonte:But he currently has over 20,000,000 subscribers on YouTube. But but but but 21,500,000 at the time of this video. But he used to go to Michigan State University. My god. Has this grainy video of him, you know, just like talking about order attention.
Demonte:Part? The side yeah.
Liz:The side part is crazy. Wow.
Demonte:Wait. The title is literally called MSU Freshman College Orientation exclamation point,
Claire:all caps. It is kind of really wholesome.
Demonte:And so, you know, you skip through, you know. Hold on. Just wait. Wait. Wait.
Demonte:Spartans Stadium, you know. Like, he he's he's a Spartan.
Liz:This is how I feel when I watch Tyler Oakley's videos.
Demonte:He's a Spartan. But, you know, I think Corey Extinction is, like, the most favorite person I watch play video games.
Liz:That's so
Claire:cool. That's super cool.
Demonte:Yeah. But but, yeah, I
Liz:think feature?
Claire:Corey, please. Yeah. That'd be cool.
Liz:Please. Extinction?
Claire:Promote this episode and feature him.
Demonte:I think he's a I think he's a U of M fan, but you know
Liz:What? I
Demonte:saw I saw a couple of his videos. I see him weren't he's he's he's sporting the maze and blue.
Liz:Oh my god.
Demonte:But
Claire:is he explicitly saying that he likes U of M because we could work with that.
Liz:I didn't hear it. We could work with that.
Demonte:We work with that.
Claire:We'll be in touch.
Demonte:Corey, know,
Claire:he's really cool.
Demonte:You know, You know? Yeah.
Liz:But Talking about Cory. Yeah. One of my favorite dance games was Cory in the House. Cory in the House.
Demonte:Man.
Liz:Love it. Can't explain more of it. Like, I don't know. I forget what the game is actually about. All I know is that it was a Cory in the House You
Claire:know that you loved it.
Liz:Game. And I had a lot of those, like, weird, like, Disney Channel, like, game. Like, I wasn't, like I've of course, I had, like, a Pokemon. I had Super Mario. I had, like, some of the class Cooking Mama.
Liz:Cooking Mama.
Claire:It's another Sonya favorite.
Liz:Oh, is this? That's it. Little Cory in the house action.
Demonte:Yeah.
Liz:It's real. It's real. It's real. But I have I have a lot of, like
Claire:Sweet.
Liz:Very strange, I feel like very niche games that maybe only small Liz would like, such as the Hannah Montana the movie game.
Claire:Yep.
Liz:Kit Kittredge, solve a mystery American Girl Doll, DS game. Really? Yeah. Well, wait. Were you an American Girl Doll kid?
Liz:I thought you were.
Claire:I had a fizz. Okay. Do you want the, like, the reason why?
Liz:Yeah. I feel like we've talked about this before.
Claire:So my friend, Megan, who I played Sweet Day O with, which I swear to God exists, I can't find it online, but that was, like, the game we played on her week. I would go down the street to Megan's house, Megan was a big American Girl doll fan, had many American Girl dolls herself. You know what? In an act of vulnerability, I will share that we used to sit together and watch those stop motion YouTube videos. Oh, well, yes, that people I think we've talked about this.
Claire:People would, you know, do stop motion with American Girl dolls. And I didn't have any of my own. And then one day for Christmas, I was like, I would like an American Girl doll, please. And I got one, except it wasn't a real one. I didn't know that.
Claire:It it was a lookalike doll. My parents just found a blonde doll at Target. Probably, like, $20. Perfect. Did exactly what I needed it to do.
Claire:It fueled the phase that I had. And then when I never touched it again, it was not a waste of money. But Megan clocked me immediately. Brought I bring the doll to your house, and I can finally contribute. And she's like, but that's not a real one.
Claire:She didn't say it in a mean way. But she was like, well, that's not an American Girl doll. And I was no, yes, it is. Brought it so we could watch the stop motion with our dolls. Yeah.
Claire:And she's like, well, that's like, like, look at the foot or something. Whatever she told me to do to ensure that it was in fact the fake one. I was like, oh. And then I thought about it to myself. And fortunately, was like, okay, this is fine with me.
Claire:Because you know what? Six months later, she was in my closet. I didn't even really look at I never went to like the American Girl doll store. Didn't really care about like collecting it. I I was a more of a Littlest Pet Shop person.
Claire:I was very, very same thing with like Barbie. Like, I didn't really care about Barbie. I I had a few.
Liz:I didn't have many Barbie dolls.
Claire:I had a few. I had Polly Pocket was a big one. But Littlest Pet Shop over everything. Shocking shockingly, though, I never played the game that you're describing. I never like Oh, I never looked into that.
Claire:Yeah. I never tried
Liz:so many Littlest Pet
Claire:Shop. So clear.
Demonte:I have a surprise for you.
Claire:Oh my god.
Liz:Was it Animal Crossing? No. Well, no. Oh. Wait.
Liz:Well, that says sweet day.
Claire:Oh. Guys, I I swear to god it was called sweet day.
Demonte:Oh. Is it? Is it just like Well,
Liz:don't even remember. That says sweet
Claire:I don't even remember, like, what we what what it was. Or or Candy Day O or sweet day Candy not Candy Crush.
Demonte:Yeah.
Claire:No. No. It was like No. No. I don't know.
Claire:I was just enamored with it even if nobody knew what it was because it was the only video game video game I really had.
Demonte:Yeah. I think this is like lost media.
Liz:Collections. You've got lost media.
Claire:Megan, if you're watching, let the people know what it's called because I I can't remember.
Liz:Yeah. I had a bunch of, like, weird educational games, I feel Yeah.
Claire:Hey. Good for you.
Liz:I had weird, like, very much clearance rack, like, DS games of, like, random pets games. Pets with a z at the end, by the way. So it would be like there was one that was all about taking care of hamsters. Had that. There was a game where sorry.
Liz:There was a game where you could launch your hamster in a Sorry. Launch? Yeah. Like, in
Claire:a Like like, physically? Yeah. Like What is that thing called? What is that called? Like a Slingshot.
Claire:Thank you.
Liz:You could slingshot your hamster, and it would, like and, like, if if it sucks the landing, then you get points.
Claire:What do you what do mean?
Liz:Like Like, if it if it, Simone Biles. But, yeah, you shouldn't do that for real hamsters. Yeah. No. I had a Zuzu Pets game.
Liz:Did that unlock the head? Oh. Yeah.
Claire:That sounds weird.
Demonte:That's weird.
Liz:I had a Zuzu Pets game. Yeah. Yeah. I just had, like, weird, like, Disney Channel games. I had a game for Enchanted, the movie.
Liz:Oh. That one was a favorite. That was a I had a Jeopardy game. Family Feud, I think, as And then I had a Wipeout game, which Demonte was talking about, which I have a story about this. I I remember this so frequently.
Liz:I had a Wipeout game for my DS, and it was one of my favorites. And I put it you know, like, in in a car where you, like there's the handle and then there's, like, a little Those little Yeah. Pockets. Pockets where you can put stuff? I put it there.
Liz:I came back to my dad's car after I opened the door, And I must have, like, either, like, opened it too fast or, like, closed it too fast because it was gone. No. Never to be seen again. I lost my whiteboard game. I lost my whiteboard game, and then I crashed out.
Demonte:You know, I crashed out too because that game was it was so fun.
Liz:It was so fun.
Demonte:Now the graphics, you know, it was it was from 2011. So Yeah. You can't graphics is is is not great. It's it's it's like it's like poor poor graphics. But, you know, the experience is peak.
Demonte:It's peak.
Liz:Alright, Jamatza. What are some of your favorite either Wii and DS games?
Demonte:So I'll start with Wii, you know, Just Dance.
Liz:Oh, duh.
Demonte:Just Dance. You know?
Liz:Never gonna all of them.
Demonte:I went
Liz:from, like, '1 until, like, 2014. So they started just doing the year. Yeah. Like, Just Dance five. Yeah.
Liz:So I had, like, Just Dance one until, like, 2014.
Demonte:I think my favorite song I used to do for Just Dance was Ross Poonen.
Liz:Yes. Yep.
Claire:Oh, god. Yeah.
Demonte:Rob no.
Liz:I'm not gonna say it. It's because of
Demonte:my but, yeah, besides Just Dance, the Michael Jackson experience.
Liz:I don'twhat does this entail? I see it on the Google Doc. What is the Michael Jackson experience?
Demonte:So you don't know the Michael Jackson experience? Of course not. So was a game that came out, I believe, shortly after Michael Jackson unfortunately passed away. I think it was originally for the DS, but then it was made for the Wii. It's basically Jet Stance.
Liz:Oh, okay. But it's Michael Jackson.
Demonte:But it's Michael Jackson. Yeah. Got it. So, you know, I remember doing Smooth Cradle, Beat It, our songs. There's like bunches like, basically, it's his whole category catalog in this one game.
Demonte:But I remember, like, seeing, like, vividly seeing the commercials, like, the advertising for this game. I said, mom, you gotta get this game. Gotta get this game. We need to get this game for Lee. But, yeah, besides Wii, I wanna say DS.
Demonte:Right now, Mario Kart seven is the best Mario Kart game to exist. I know someone's gonna wind up arguing saying, well, actually, I like Kart eight or Mario Kart whatever. Mario Kart eight is cool. Well, Mario Kart seven is like nostalgia. It's like Okay.
Demonte:So, Mario Kart seven, the Wipeout game, of course. Yeah. I had a Sweet Life one deck game or Suite Life with Zack and Cody game.
Liz:Oh, just the the original in the hotel?
Demonte:On the boat? I I think it was the one on boat. It was like a
Liz:So it was on deck?
Demonte:Yeah. On deck. Yeah. So I think it was I I don't know what the game was, but apparently, it was like just went around just like as a ghostbuster or something like that and just Yes.
Liz:Yes. Yes. I remember Yeah.
Demonte:Circle of Spies. And it's like, I don't know, like, what exactly you would do, but it was like
Liz:It was the one of the worst ones, honestly.
Demonte:Yeah.
Liz:Like, it like, the graphics on it were so epic. I can picture in my head right now.
Demonte:Like, this is just like a screen grab. I'll try to zoom in.
Liz:Players can troll Zach and Cody in a three d platforming adventure to uncover a spy organization. Yeah. Okay. I Okay. Okay.
Demonte:You know, listen, man.
Liz:That's what listen, man.
Demonte:Disney, you know games. Disney made made a quick buck with that game.
Liz:No. For, like, the Disney Channel games were endless. I'm looking up right now because I was thinking about the Wii game that I had. I think it was called, like, Disney Channel, like, party or, like, Disney Channel oh my gosh. I can't remember what it was called.
Liz:Disney Channel All Star Party Yeah. Yeah. Was my everything, bro. I I need to play play that again. I have to I think I have this the, like, DVD somewhere in, like, my house.
Demonte:Yeah.
Liz:And we have a Wii at the house now, so I need to get it. Also, I had a lot of karaoke games in the Wii Yeah. Because I was super annoying as a theater kid.
Claire:So I'm interested to hear Demonte, once you finish your list, I have a question for for everyone about
Liz:you know
Claire:It's your faves.
Liz:Do you have any others on your list
Demonte:besides I think, like, as far as, like, DS, besides, like two life on deck, the 10 dogs. Mhmm. I used to play, but it wasn't really like my most favorite game because it wasn't like kind of game to where it's like entertaining, I guess. Right. Besides that, the Lego games, Lego Lord of the Rings.
Liz:Oh, yeah. I never did any of the Lego games. Yeah. It
Demonte:was it was so fun. It was so fun. LEGO Lord of Rings, I'm trying to think of a different game of LEGO. Oh, LEGO Batman. LEGO Batman.
Demonte:And I think LEGO Batman two, like the Justice League and Indiana Jones. They were, like, my top three LEGO games, like, for the DS. But, yeah, I think that's I guess, like, as far as, like, a modern game like Fortnite, which Fortnite used to be, like, fun. Now it's just like a bunch of, you know, kids just whatever. But Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto, all of Grand Theft Auto games.
Demonte:Yes. I used to play it when I was a child. Besides that, I remember playing this it was like this poorly poor graphics bowling game on Xbox three sixty. I can't, like I don't know. I just have like memories playing that.
Demonte:But besides that, yeah, that's like all of the games I have. Yeah. At least I can think up in back my mind.
Claire:So I kind of have a closing kind of question here. Mhmm. I would like to know what game everyone thinks they've spent the most time playing. Like It's a real total hours on. And I can start.
Liz:I Is can this be, like, modern or as a kid?
Claire:I think as a kid, just, like, general.
Liz:As a kid? Like oh, okay.
Claire:Like, I'm gonna give it to first place Super Mario Bros on my DS. Yeah. Second place, probably like cool math games.
Liz:Oh, yeah.
Claire:Second and third place are tied for cool math games in the iCarly website. I was obsessed with the iCarly website.
Demonte:Yeah.
Claire:I was obsessed with iCarly.
Liz:Yeah.
Claire:So that's me. You wanna hit your one two three?
Liz:Yeah. I'll hit my one two three. I think number one has to be Wii Sports. Okay. Wii Sports tennis.
Liz:I was very into that. I did. We were talking about because we were playing Wii Sports Resort last night after we we played 100 pin bowling, after we played Mario Super Sluggers, and because 100 pin bowling's amazing. Mhmm. And we were all, like, hitting our niche games that we had played, and, like, mine was the tennis drills in Wii Tennis.
Liz:Like, who did I think I I thought I was, like, Serena Williams. I mean, you're in a tennis class right now. I'm so,
Claire:like, paid off.
Liz:I am a tennis player. But, yeah, I was hitting the Wii Sports drills like I was actually, like, gonna be in the Olympics. Okay. So, yeah, Wii Sports probably. And then my second Hannah Montana the movie DS game Mhmm.
Liz:I probably replayed that a million like, because I would play it and then immediately start it over again and play it again. Absolutely. What? Anyways, because I would just play story mode all the time. And then there was, like, mini games where you would do a concert in it, and you could, like, play the drums.
Liz:And then you'd walk over to another station, and you'd hit the dance moves on it. You'd, like, hit it in the right order or whatever. And then probably just dance. Played a lot of Just Dance as
Demonte:a kid. Yeah.
Claire:Top three? Your big three?
Liz:This is, like, all all
Demonte:time. All time. Okay. I
Claire:It's tough.
Demonte:Oh, man. Putting pressure on me, man. I would say my top game, I would have to say Just Dance. Mainly, not because of the game itself, but just playing with, like, family memories when I just like the nostalgia and memories that, you know, the game itself brought. You don't really have that many games like that nowadays.
Demonte:If you really think about it, I'm not trying to be like a I don't think I can say boomer. I'm not trying to be old or show my age, but you legitimately do not have that many games like that anymore.
Liz:Yeah.
Demonte:So I would say Jet Stance, my second favorite game all time. I will probably have to say I would probably have to say Lego Indian Jones. Okay.
Liz:You know?
Demonte:Yeah. Again, nostalgia. But more importantly, like, I just love how every time, like, just LEGO games itself, when a character dies, they just make just a noise or they just crackle or whatever. Taylor knows. Taylor's nodding.
Demonte:Yeah. But yeah, LEGO Indiana Jones, honorable mentions, Grand Theft Auto, all of the games besides the OG one because that's a little too old. Honorable mention number two, I would have to say I wanna yeah. I will have to say just like Mario Kart seven.
Claire:Yeah. Mario Kart is
Liz:a good year. Like, I would always rage quit as a kid though.
Claire:Yeah.
Demonte:Yeah. Like it's a competitive game.
Claire:I'd be really
Demonte:competitive game.
Liz:I'm like really bad at Mario Kart.
Demonte:So yeah, like I think so I think like when you get like the Rainbow Road section of Mario Kart, you know, that's like when, you know, things start to get real. But, you know, iron will mentions Mario Kart. And I forgot the other game I said already. Jeez. But I think, like, my third favorite game has to be I think, like, as far as, like, mobile Mhmm.
Demonte:Angry Birds. Angry Birds.
Liz:Birds. Fire love
Demonte:that. I just hate how you know, company that owns Angry Birds. They just decided, hey, let's just like change up this whole game. Let's just get rid of like what makes this game fun. And then just like completely ruin it.
Demonte:But you know, the
Liz:opening up with the new updated. Yeah. I don't
Claire:even do the people's work
Demonte:to make sure I don't
Liz:I don't even
Demonte:play it in the trailer. I I'm like a veteran player when it comes to Angry Birds. But Angry Birds, Jetpack Joyride, Temple Run. And I want to say, you know, just like the little weird games that was just like pop up.
Claire:Right? Yeah. They're like phases. Yeah. I feel like there's so many we're probably forgetting that like, oh, yeah, they would happen because a show came out or because the movie came Are
Liz:we gamers?
Claire:I feel like it sounds like we are.
Liz:It kinda sounds like we're gamers. We just spent a really long time talking about video games.
Claire:Oh, yeah.
Liz:Like, oh, we don't game them. We're not game
Claire:And then we all had like anecdotes.
Liz:Yeah. Wow. Well, thank you guys Yeah. So much for
Claire:being on the episode. Thank you, Demonte.
Liz:Yeah. Nerding out. Thank you for really bringing the the game knowledge.
Demonte:Yeah. Thank you.
Liz:Thank
Claire:you. We covered a lot between the three of us childhood favorite games and current gaming habits quite impressive.
Liz:Alright. Well, I'll see you guys next week. I don't know what we're gonna talk about. Bye.
Demonte:See you.