After the chaos of last week’s show, Julian and Justin get together to talk about a ton of Steam Next Fest demos, recap the Xbox Showcase, and reveal our favorite games of Not E3. Yeah!

00:00 Introduction, (not) sponsored by Chef Man

23:47 Julian’s Next Fest demo round up (Dispatch, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, Kingdom Cum: Deep Entrance, Superhero Simulator, Dead as Disco, Empire of Lust, Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream)

01:00:36 The Midnight Walk, Silent Hill 2 Remake, Final Fantasy x Magic: The Gathering Arena

01:33:44 Live reacts: looking for a Detlef Schrempf card in a pack of Final Fantasy Magic

01:48:09 Recapping the Xbox Showcase

02:51:16 Our Top 5 games shown at Not E3

Theme song and interstitial music by Megan McDuffee: https://meganmcduffee.com

Logo and artwork by John Gholson

Announcer: John Gholson

Join our Discord, learn about how you can support the show, and more: https://linktr.ee/TheStageSelect

Email: thestageselectpod@gmail.com

Copyright 2024 Space Monkey Mafia Productions

Hello again! Keigh Geoffley here, host of the E Summer Games Awards Fest, back with another amazing showcase of games! I almost didn’t get The Stage Select auditorium this year, because things snuck up on Julian and it took him a long time to return my calls. But don’t worry: ESGAF3 2025 is here, and it’s our biggest show to date!

Ahem. It’s Julian. Yeah, we’re doing this bit again for Not E3 season. Please note that we recorded this on the night that Summer Game Fest Opening Night Live happened, so this episode covers that, plus the Unreal presentation and the Sony State of Play. We’ll tackle the Xbox Direct and anything we may have missed next week. It’s a jam-packed episode regardless, so please enjoy!

00:00 Introduction, respect for Chef Man

07:02 Unreal Engine showcase

33:00 Sony State of Play

01:38:40 Summer Game Fest Opening Night Live

Theme song and interstitial music by Megan McDuffee: https://meganmcduffee.com

Logo and artwork by John Gholson

Announcer: John Gholson

Join our Discord, learn about how you can support the show, and more: https://linktr.ee/TheStageSelect

Email: thestageselectpod@gmail.com

Copyright 2024 Space Monkey Mafia Productions

It’s a shorter, sleepier show this week, because we recorded a 2 hour Patreon episode before this…AND IT SHOWS. We…may need to record those on different nights. We’ll see. Anyway, Julian finished some games, Justin gets out of his comfort zone, and strange things are afoot at The Stage Select studio. So, the usual.

00:00 Introduction, hear Justin out

15:11 When Justin Hamm and Mike Fallek collide

19:36 Monster Train 2, playing Silent Hill 2 remake for an audience

37:01 Final thoughts on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

52:52 Until Dawn, the movie

01:01:27 Final thoughts on Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

01:08:25 The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

01:24:47 Neon Inferno, the Final Fantasy edition of Magic feels like it’s been coming for 3 years

01:36:37 CQC (Comments, Questions, Concerns)

Listen to Julian on Soft Lock (and Justin’s episode coming

soon): https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/big-weasel-lil-weasel/episodes/Episode-6-Julian-is-one-of-the-best-podcasters--A-good-friend--And-knows-how-to-listen-to-me-while-understanding-i-am-brilliant-but-genuinely-in-a-not-funny-way-insane--Julian-of-The-Stage-Select-e33fr7s/a-abvgr1p

Theme song and interstitial music by Megan McDuffee: https://meganmcduffee.com

Logo and artwork by John Gholson

Announcer: John Gholson

Join our Discord, learn about how you can support the show, and more: https://linktr.ee/TheStageSelect

Email: thestageselectpod@gmail.com

Copyright 2024 Space Monkey Mafia Productions

It’s a big week for The Stage Select, because we booked our biggest guest to date! Come in and meet Stephanie Michelle. She’s a cosplayer, internet personality, YouTuber, adult content creator, and most of all, EXTREMELY geeky! We have a great getting to know you section with Stephanie and then get into processing grief with video games, the absurdity of the 90s TV show Night Man, and much more!

00:00 Introduction: How many sandwiches are too many; announcements

06:04 Getting to know Stephanie: Let’s start at the beginning

23:59 5 Questions for Stephanie Michelle

33:15 Julian has yet another plan, learning about Stephanie’s transformation

01:11:28 Playing video games to deal with grief

01:21:18 Battlestar Galactica, Night Man

01:43:56 Julian’s confusing movie experience

01:51:54 Final Destination: Bloodlines, Wanderstop, Yes, Your Grace: Snowfall

02:07:52 A quick update on The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

02:13:19 CQC (Comments, Questions, Concerns)

Follow Stephanie Michelle!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omystephaniemichelle/

Twitter: https://x.com/omystephanieirl?lang=en

Listen to Julian talk The Suicide Squad on Games My Mom

Found: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-pb9yb-18b1168

Listen to Justin get real nerdy about Skyrim on The Monarch’s

Tribunal: https://youtu.be/lV7Lxnxkoeo?si=auXIPayMO64s6cBe

Theme song and interstitial music by Megan McDuffee: https://meganmcduffee.com

Logo and artwork by John Gholson

Announcer: John Gholson

Join our Discord, learn about how you can support the show, and more: https://linktr.ee/TheStageSelect

Email: thestageselectpod@gmail.com

Theme song lyrics:

What could this possibly be?

Seems a lot like a podcast…

Wonder what specifically?

Talkin’ bout video games,

With your hosts, you’re in good hands.

Not more of the same!

Now we’ll jump right in,

So expect the unexpected and more.

Now we’ll get groovin,’

Never know who’s gonna walk through the door!

There just might be some treasure in this chest,

Having fun with our special guests,

Time for Stage Select!

Copyright 2024 Space Monkey Mafia Productions

This week’s episode of The Stage Select was so out of pocket that I was surprised when I was editing it, and I was there when we recorded! Enjoy some new game talk, some fun discussions, and a strangely long talk about the WWE Forceable Entry album, for some reason.

00:00 Giant Bomb made us liars

19:08 Julian has another plan

23:04 Justin is mad at WWE 2K25, Wanderstop, Wreckfest 2

43:59 The Precinct

01:05:17 Item Hoarders Anonymous

01:33:18 The Midnight Walk, where did the Switch 2 hype go?

01:54:37 Doom: The Dark Ages, Expedition 33

02:16:40 What’s going on with all the MIA superhero games?

02:33:33 CQC (Comments, Questions, Concerns)

Theme song and interstitial music by Megan McDuffee: https://meganmcduffee.com

Logo and artwork by John Gholson

Announcer: John Gholson

Join our Discord, learn about how you can support the show, and more: https://linktr.ee/TheStageSelect

Email: thestageselectpod@gmail.com

Copyright 2024 Space Monkey Mafia Productions

We were light on games this week, mainly because Justin’s been busy and Julian hasn’t been able to put Expedition 33 down. BUT THAT’S OKAY. We had the new GTA VI trailer, the seemingly end of Polygon and Giant Bomb, and a lot of listener questions to help us along!

00:00 Introduction, people who text a lot

11:58 Julian has a plan

17:23 More Expedition 33, even though Julian has more problems with it the deeper he gets, Justin’s video game ennui

45:28 Metal Eden, Nintendo being a dick

55:21 That new GTA VI trailer looks HOT

01:07:35 Julian has another plan

01:28:13 The news about Polygon and Giant Bomb

02:03:45 CQC (Comments, Questions, Concerns)

Check out Julian on the Street Fighter Alpha (series)

episode of Games My Mom Found: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-r6knk-189c769

Also listen to Julian talk about the Thunderbolts movie on

episode 635 of The Comic Conspiracy podcast: https://comicconspiracypodcast.com/

If you’re in New York around June you can check out John Gholson

in the horror film Man Finds Tape: https://www.tribecafilm.com/films/man-finds-tape-2025

Theme song and interstitial music by Megan McDuffee: https://meganmcduffee.com

Logo and artwork by John Gholson

Announcer: John Gholson

Join our Discord, learn about how you can support the show, and more: https://linktr.ee/TheStageSelect

Email: thestageselectpod@gmail.com

Copyright 2024 Space Monkey Mafia Productions

After a month packed with incredible guests it’s time for Julian and Justin to take a breather and have a normal episode. Well, whatever “normal” equates to around The Stage Select studio, anyway.

00:00 Introduction

09:40 We have deeper thoughts on Expedition 33

54:34 The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, Persona 4 Golden

01:05:29 Tennis Angels EX

01:12:57 Thunderbolts

01:26:57 What the Xbox price increases mean for the future of gaming

01:46:12 CQC (Comments, Questions, Concerns)

Theme song and interstitial music by Megan McDuffee: https://meganmcduffee.com

Logo and artwork by John Gholson

Announcer: John Gholson

Join our Discord, learn about how you can support the show, and more: https://linktr.ee/TheStageSelect

Email: thestageselectpod@gmail.com

Copyright 2024 Space Monkey Mafia Productions

We conclude this month-long block of guests for The Stage Select with Westen from Big Nerd Gaming! The last time we spoke with him was during the final week of Game of the Year deliberations, and we wanted to make sure there wasn’t any leftover beef from that contentious list. Plenty of games in this week’s episode, so let’s jump right in!

00:00 Introduction, muzak

06:23 Making sure Westen is okay after Game of the Year

14:06 Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

29:05 Blue Prince, Promise Mascot Agency

50:54 Split/Fiction, an intervention for Westen

01:01:29 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered

01:40:52 Clair Obscure: Expedition 33

02:21:01 Justin’s had a week, Westen’s Steam Deck thoughts

02:40:00 Closing thoughts on South of Midnight, and how Sinners is a great companion piece

02:49:59 Hololive graduations of Mumei and Gura

Follow Westen’s blog, Big Nerd Gaming: https://bignerdgaming.com/

If you only watch one piece of Hololive content let it be

Ash Again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twUFbqyul_M

Theme song and interstitial music by Megan McDuffee: https://meganmcduffee.com

Logo and artwork by John Gholson

Announcer: John Gholson

Join our Discord, learn about how you can support the show, and more: https://linktr.ee/TheStageSelect

Email: thestageselectpod@gmail.com

Copyright 2024 Space Monkey Mafia Productions