Stan's away — so this week the olds play. Shane and Dave catch up about Shane's perfect Steam Machine, his even more perfect AYN Thor, polo shirts, and four albums that were pretty good. We also give flowers to a true Chicago hero: Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants. Dive Down Nation, your slop bowls are ready. Fall in line for episode 369.

• Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
• Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store
• Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN2025 for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com
• Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN
• And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code DIVE8 at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
0:01 - Lettuce entertain you with cilantro
9:43 - This week's episode
15:06 - Old business: Shane "finished" his Steam Machine
27:11 - New business: Shane also bought an AYN Thor
37:31 - Polo shirts
43:28 - Dave brings some albums - Broken Social Scene: Remember the Humans
51:31 - Cut Worms: Transmitter
57:23 - Friko: Something Worth Waiting For
59:36 - Brigitte Calls Me Baby: Irreversible
1:03:41 - Wrapping up

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

email us: thedivedown@gmail.com

On this week's show, the boys play Capcom's latest AAA foray, Pragmata. We talk about father/daughter dynamics in video games, the joys of hacking, and what it means to be a slayer gamer.

• Become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation!: http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown
• Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store
• Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com
• Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN
• And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code DIVE8 at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
0:01 - Sparking graphic novels
4:01 - This week's episode
6:34 - Dave's old business: cookin' and cubin'
11:55 - Pragmata - the basic setup
26:48 - What this game does well
37:58 - Competence vs. excellence
59:52 - The psychology of gamers
1:05:46 - Public comments: The card(s) that got us into Magic
1:12:04 - Wrapping up

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

email us: thedivedown@gmail.com

On this week's show, Stan offers his closing arguments on Shadow of the Colossus (2018), Shane revisits Metaphor: ReFantazio (2024), then he turns a pile of parts into a working computer, and Stan makes tacos out of fish sticks.

Thank you Aaron for this week's public comments. If you'd like to submit public comments to The Dive Down, become a citizen of The Dive Down Nation at http://www.patreon.com/thedivedown

• Show the world that you're a proud citizen of The Dive Down Nation with some merch from the store: https://www.thedivedown.com/store
• Upgrade your gameplay and your gameday with Heavy Play accessories. Use code THEDIVEDOWN for 10% off your first order at https://www.heavyplay.com
• Get 25% Cashback after 3 months of service with ManaTraders! https://www.manatraders.com/?medium=thedivedown and use coupon code THEDIVEDOWN
• And now receive 8% off your order of paper cards from Nerd Rage Gaming with code DIVE8 at https://www.nerdragegaming.com/

Timestamps:
0:01 - Oranges, micro-looting, cameras off, vocoders, frogs, and more
11:52 - Dave's gone and Boston memories, the Boston Tea Party
18:05 - Shane picked up some new PS5 games, and a preview for next week
24:20 - Old business: Stan beat Shadow of the Colossus
36:15 - Shane restarted Metaphor: Refantazio
45:10 - YouTube sleepin'
47:40 - New business: Shane made a Steam Machine
54:32 - Public comments: Food we like to make
1:07:38 - Wrapping up

Our opening music is Nowhere - You Never Knew, and our closing music is Space Blood - Goro? Is That Your Christian Name?

email us: thedivedown@gmail.com