AI Summary
5 min readWhen Kirk Hamilton sat down to edit this episode of Triple Click, he broke format to read a passage from a murder mystery he had just finished. He wanted to show, not tell, why Louise Penny’s writing was so arresting: “Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec knelt down, his knees cracking like the report of a hunter’s rifle, his large, expressive hands hovering over the tiny circle of blood, marring her fluffy cardigan, as though like a magician he could remove the wound and restore the woman. But he could not.” That moment—a detective surprised by violent death, even in his fifties—captures something the hosts kept circling back to across this mailbag episode: the strange, often uncomfortable relationship between the games we play, the time we spend, and the meaning we extract.
The Complicated Feeling That You Might Be Wasting Your Time
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
Never miss an episode of Triple Click
Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What you'll learn
- 1 (00:12) **Welcome & Mailbag Introduction** - The hosts open the mailbag for listener questions, with a brief teaser for the bonus episode on Christopher Nolan's *The Odyssey* and an upcoming playthrough of the game *Soma*.
- 2 (05:12) **Question 1: The Complicated Relationship with Games** - Listener David asks about the nagging feeling of wasting time on games, even when not burnt out.
- 3 (14:04) **Question 2: Real Life Video Game Logic** - Listener Luke shares a story of receiving a hand-painted plate as a reward for helping a stranger, feeling like he got "completed quest XP."
- 4 (19:48) **Question 3: Blizzard vs. Riot Media Coverage** - Listener Stewart asks why Blizzard gets more games media attention than the more successful Riot Games.
- 5 (27:54) **Question 4: Afterlife Statistics** - Listener Levi asks what stats you'd want to see after death, like running speed rank or how many people were secretly into you.
- 6 (33:23) **Question 5: Why Studios Get Shut Down Instead of Spun Off** - Listener Nick asks why Microsoft and EA shut down studios instead of letting them spin off, given the "silver lining" of recent closures.
- 7 (38:07) **Question 6: Is FromSoftware the Christopher Nolan of Games?** - Listener LJ asks if FromSoftware is the video game equivalent of Christopher Nolan, and if Rockstar is James Cameron.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
It's an episode full of questions this week as Kirk, Maddy, and Jason reach into the mailbag for some hot, hot queries. Is FromSoftware basically Christopher Nolan? Why do companies shut down game studios instead of spinning them out? And when is life like a video game?
One More Thing:
Kirk: Still Life (Louise Penny)
Maddy: Hell Clock
Jason: Alan Opts Out (Courtney Maum)
LINKS:
Help support this show and unlock bonus content! Become a member at https://maximumfun.org/jointripleclick
🚀 SUPPORT TRIPLE CLICK:
Join Maximum Fun | Buy TC Merch
💬 JOIN THE TRIPLE CLICK DISCORD
🎮 Triple Click Ethics Policy
📱 SOCIALS | @tripleclickpod
Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Twitch
More from this podcast
Triple Click →