We're kicking off season 6 with a monumental task. Listen, we don't just say, "yes!" to everything that is asked of us here at ol' DT!HQ, but when your country comes a-callin', you must answer. IRL President Joey Bides dropped a line to the DT! Marketing Department to ask for help with the most patriotic of problems, the rebranding of America. That's right everyone, the Red, White, and Blue are so two thousand and late and Joey Bides wants us to pick a new color to usher forth a revitalized American Spirit. That said, he wants us to pick a color from a very specific list, the list of N64 controller colors. Welcome to the State of the DT!HQ. Set your DVR for C-SPAN as we answer the age old question, what color of N64 controller is the best.

Every debate needs its chump answer, and Kyle is here to tell you it's not Atomic Purple. Andrew yearns for the absolute radness of the 1990s while he reminisces about Extreme Green. Matt plants his flag with the 99% and gives the most accessible, albeit the most boring answer of the day.

This episode was sponsored by MANSCAPED! Join over 7 million men (and probably plenty of not-men too) who trust MANSCAPED by using code "DEBATETHIS" at Manscaped.com. Score 20% off and free world wide shipping by using our code "DEBATETHIS" at checkout!

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Are you listening to this episode thinking to yourself, "Man, I hate hearing ads on my favorite podcast! I didn't think Debate This! would ever sell out!" Well neither did we and honestly, we try pretty hard to make our ads funny and worth the listen. But, if you'd prefer to listen to our show without ads, you can listen to every DT! episode ad-free right now at patreon.com/debatethiscast! Patrons of all tiers get ad-free episodes, bonus content and access to our Patron-only discord server. Higher tiers unlock the DT! Extended Good Vibes Aftershow and tons more. Get all the details at patreon.com/debatethiscast.

Properties we talked about this week: Mostly the N64 and its assorted controllers. We talked about the Flash movie and DC Studios for a while too. Brendan Frasier, George Clooney, Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, 50 Shades of Grey, Avata 2 The Way of Water, Titanic, Space Force, and Area 51 were also there.

Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Image Credit: Box art for the Atomic Purple N64 bundle via judge.me

Happy New Year Nerds! As is tradition here at DT!HQ, we're taking this week off! The Season 6 premier will drop next Tuesday, and BOY is it a doozy. In lieu of a full episode this week, here's a little taste of what we have planned for 2023 as well as a special treat in the last 60 seconds ;-)

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Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Image Credit: I got lazy and used one of the free Squarespace ones… don’t judge me.

Happy Winter Season of Non-Denominational Holiday Celebration™ to all of you who celebrate non-denominationaly! Happy Tuesday™ to those of you who don't! It's time for our final debate of the year and our annual shitty peripheral gift exchange! This year, the Execs™ asked us to pivot our goals a bit when they informed us they've cancelled all of our Holiday Bonuses™. So, instead of our standard gift exchange, we're looking for the best video game peripheral to use as a company holiday gift™!

Enjoy some cold coffee and stale donuts at the Holiday DT! Exec Board Share Holders Meeting™ as Kyle introduces us to our most modern peripheral yet. Todd unlocks the wii-vault™ and brings out some really wild wii-mote attachements. Also, Matt does a capitalism™.

The title of this weeks episode was NOT selected by our Patrons in our Discord Community because we didn't want to spoil the bit! Want to help us choose the next one we ask for input on? Come join #ButtThwompNation™ at patreon.com/debatethiscast!

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You called us on our bluff and gave us more than 20 new reviews during Spooktacular Season! That means we forced Todd to stream Doki Doki Literature Club on our Twitch channel! The VODs are now available on our YouTube page. Head to youtube.com/@debatethiscast to relive the madness!

Properties we talked about this week: The Game Awards, Home Alone 5 The Holiday Heist, American Pie Presents The Naked Mile, Bring It On Fight to the Finish, Dragon Quest Slime Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, iConcepts Nintendo Wii Cooking Utencils, LJN Roll N Rocker, Hell's Kitchen, REM, Final Fantasy

Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Image Credit: The Album Cover to R.E.M.’s single, “Stand” as pulled from Wikipedia

Imgur link: https://imgur.com/a/8O43LUA

There are cultural touchstones we can all count on as nerds who grew up in the 90's. A closet full of Nintendo Power issues that we suckered our parents/grandparents into paying for is certainly one of them. Whether it was the monthly letters to the editor, or the deep dives into that month's featured game, Nintendo Power's impact on getting kids to read is second only to the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! program.

Join for today's FLAVOR TEXT as Andrew and Kyle blast us right in our faces with a monthly paper 'zine subscription amount of nostalgia. Come for the walk down memory lane, stick around for the weird viral, Donkey Kong-themed marketing that Rare went all in on.

Special thanks to "BaconBitBehemoth" for reminding us some of us of the last time we actually read for pleasure. Want to learn how to comission your own Flavor Text? Find out at patreon.com/debatethiscast!

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Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

In the earliest days of 2017, a new gaming style swept the nation as PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds introduced the world to the Battle Royale. It wasn't long before every 10 year old had downloaded PUBG on their parents iPads and joined the hunt for that illusive winner winner chicken dinner. Battle Royale games pit 100 (or some other arbitrary number) players against each other to see who is the very best likeno one ever was. UNRELATED: A new Pokemon game just came out! Sure would be weird to combine those two ideas, right? Sure would be weird to ask the debaters to create the best possible Pokemon Battle Royale gam, right?

Matt strugles this week to determine the difference between day and night. Todd is the middleman this week as he answers the exact question that he was asked. Andrew makes a mistake, and the rest of the crew call him on it.

The title of this week's episode was selected by our Patrons in our Discord Community! If you want to help us choose the next one, join our discord, and/or get some bonus content, become part of #ButtThwompNation at patreon.com/debatethiscast

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Hey you! Are you listening to this podcast on Spotify? Our analytics say it's likely that you are and we're definitely not watching from inside your home... Well if you haven't heard, Spotify is now allowing listeners to rate podcasts! If you have a spare second, consider leaving us a 5-star rating on this new validation platform. Or don't. I'm not your daddy.

Properties we talked about this week: PUBG, Fortnite, H1Z1, Friday the 13th, Dead by Daylight, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and also Legends Arceus, Apex Legends, Tetris 99

Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Image Source: Artist Yoon chul Choi via Artstation.

Every character has an origin story. May they have fallen into a vat of radioactive eels, fallen into a pit of radioactive sand, fallen into a vat of mind-twisting chemicals, fallen into a mess of hazardous materials, or fallen into a lightning bolt that struck a bunnch of chemicals and somehow created the speedforce, every character has an origin story.

Today's FLAVOR TEXT takes time to dive into the nerdy origin story of each co-host of Debate This! Come along with us as we discuss the games that made us, the nerd franchises that critically impacted our personalities well into our adult years, and how none of our origins involve falling into anything unless you count falling into the depression caused by the post-2008 job market.

Special thanks to the only blood relative of this podcast who supports the fruits of our efforts and also isn't Matt's mom, "Dr. Garlicbutter," for commissioning this introspective dive into our own nerdy backstories.

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Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Image Credit: This awesome picture of the four DT! hosts taken at PRGE 2022 by a GameBoy Camera provided by the Video Game History Foundation

As children of the 90s and 2000s, millenials are intimately familiar with the concept of "Edutainment." In an attempt to meet the kids where they were, educators tried their hardest to develop games where the real plot was the lessons we learned along the way. Weirdly, around the same time, video games got real gray and gritty. Wouldn't it be wild if you smashed those two concepts together? Wouldn't it?

Andrew unlocked the vault of controversial video games and pulled Postal 2 from its depths. Todd checks the Sonic box and makes sure we all know what our hedgehog personas look like. Kyle makes us all very uncomfortable as we explore religious trauma together. What more could you possibly want when we ask, "What gritty game would make the best Edutainment game?"

The title of this week's episode was selected by our Patrons in our Discord Community! If you want to help us choose the next one, join our discord, and/or get some bonus content, become part of #ButtThwompNation at patreon.com/debatethiscast

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You called us on our bluff and gave us more than 20 new reviews during Spooktacular Season! That means we're forcing Todd to stream Doki Doki Literature Club on our Twitch. Come watch the mad/sadness November 29th and 30th, 7pm EST, twitch.tv/debatethiscast.

Properties we talked about this week: Postal 2, Death Stranding, Devil May Cry, Sonic, Shadow the Hedgehog Call of Duty, The No Child Left Behind Act, Schoolhouse Rock

Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Image Credit: I stole it from this New York Times article…

"I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!" said the Spooktacular Express as we willed it deeper into November for one more stop! We're wrapping up our Halloween-themed journey with a fan-favorite tradition, Creepypasta Story Time.

If this is your first time seeing one of our Creepypasta episodes in your feed, please allow me to explain. Creepypastas are spooky internet stories. Some are good, some are bad, some are just absolutely bananas. Every scary season, the DT! guys sit around a digital zoom campfire and tell each other these stories, for better or for worse! This year, Andrew tells us the horrors of retro tech, Todd gives us a cult warning, and Matt talks about comics. Keep scrolling to find links to these stories near the bottom of the shownotes!

Because we have extended the Spooktacular Express, so too have we extended the Spooktacular Bonus! You have until November 15th to slap the roof of these sweet deals!

Spooktacular Review-a-thon:

• Step 1: Review the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, Goodpods, or anywhere else you can write reviews!

• Step 2: Take a screenshot of your review, post it to social media, and tag us @debatethiscast

• Step 3: We'll read your review in a spooky voice during the October ad breaks!

• If we get 20 new reviews this month, we'll make Todd play Doki Doki Literature Club live on Twitch!

Spooktacular Patreon Bonus:

• Everyone who joins our Patreon at patreon.com/debatethiscast will score a free Halloween-themed, Debate This! chotchkey!

Recommended Reading:

• The Haunted Gameboy Camera: https://www.creepypasta.com/the-haunted-game-boy-camera/

• The Bethesda Cult: https://www.creepypasta.com/the-bethesda-cult/

• The Comic: https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/The_Comic

• I Hate You: https://superepicfailpedia.fandom.com/wiki/I_HATE_YOU_(Bad_Creepypasta)/story

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Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a Creative Commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Image credit: It’s from the “I Hate You” Creepypasta