This week we are Pokémon Dreamin’ about when in 1996, we were introduced to three lovable characters named Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Pikachu. These pocket monsters would change the gaming world forever. Fast forward to 2019, over 20 years later, and they are no longer content with consuming our every waking hour. Now, they also want the sleeping ones.
The Pokémon company released an app and a companion device that trains your Pokémon while you sleep. If that doesn’t make sense to you either, then you are in good company and that’s what we want to talk about this week on the free play podcast.
Love what you just read? Get more LTN!
Episode Hosts
Bubba is the CEO, President and Founder of LTN, host of the Free Play Podcast and the Church Nerds Podcast. He is also a full-time Nerd-Culture Missionary. Bubba, and his wonderful wife Anna, have 4 children who are pretty good most of the time. A communal gamer at heart who loves to get in and play games with other people #gameNightIStheRightNight
Kate is a co-founder, admin coordinator, and best girl host of the Free Play podcast for Love Thy Nerd. Some of her favorite games ever are Red Dead Redemption 2, the Assassin's Creed franchise, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. Kate has a Master of Arts in Applied Psychology and thinks games research is awesome. Her husband Steven says that she dies too much in games.
Episode Producer
Starting with Clear Channel Radio in the '90s, Jonathan has worked in audio and marketing for 20 years. Credits include stints at EA Tiburon, Christianity Today, Christ and Pop Culture, and freelancing as voice talent for audiobooks and podcast production services.
Kate is a co-founder, admin coordinator, and best girl host of the Free Play podcast for Love Thy Nerd. Some of her favorite games ever are Red Dead Redemption 2, the Assassin's Creed franchise, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. Kate has a Master of Arts in Applied Psychology and thinks games research is awesome. Her husband Steven says that she dies too much in games.
Related Content
Free Play 163 | Who Doesn’t Love Killer Microwave AI?
Some people, like Bubba, look upon the impending era of our AI overlords with excitement and joy. Others, like Kate, are a little unsure. And stories with headlines like “Someone turned their imaginary friend into an AI microwave and it wanted to kill them” do little to change her opinion.
Free Play 162 | Our Biggest Gaming Disappointments
Have you had a disappointment in the game space that really bummed you out? Never fear, the Free Play Podcast is here to help you recover and move on. After Kate had an underwhelming God of War Ragnarök release day, they’re talking all about gaming disappointments they’ve had and how we can all get to a better place.
Free Play 161 | LTN Con 2022 Recap
LTN Con is one of our favorite weekends of the year here at Love Thy Nerd. It’s a time of coming together as a community, playing games, and learning how to love and serve our nerdy neighbors better. We had some incredible keynote and breakout sessions, vendors, and opportunities to extend our online relationships into real life. Bubba and Kate were there, had an absolute blast, and wanted to recap the weekend with all of you.
Free Play 160 | The Super Mario Movie Trailer
Nintendo finally reveals a teaser trailer for the Super Mario Movie at New York Comic Con. Fans are protesting online about Chris Pratt’s performance (even with barely a sentence uttered). Bubba and Kate nerd out about what we loved from the trailer, what they’re looking forward to with the movie, and speculating about what some of Nintendo’s goals are along with the partnership with Illumination and Universal.
Free Play 159 | Did Twitch Mess Up?
Twitch has taken creators by surprise in a bad way with their latest announcement. They stated how revenue splits for bigger streamers will go from 70/30 to 50/50.This information has the Twitch community up in arms. As it should because this information isn’t exactly fair. Will Twitch’s mistake be the first step in leveling the playing field for competition and innovation for streaming platforms?
Free Play 158 | Tearz of the Kingdom
Well nerds, it’s the moment Matt has been waiting for. For 6 whole years. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will allegedly be released on May 12, 2023. It’s it TEARS of the kingdom as in crying? Or tears of the kingdom as in ripping? The internet debates. We cover what we know so far about the new game and Matt rants about how Kirby got an anniversary party while the Zelda series got the cold shoulder.
Free Play 32 | Lost Episode | Right-Out-of-the-Box Games (with Justin Bowers)
In this lost episode from the earlier days of the Free Play Podcast, Bubba, Matt & Kate welcome Justin Bowers to discuss games perfect for family gatherings - ones that you can play easily right out of the box.
Free Play 157 | Facebook Gaming’s Downfall
When both social media and nerd culture have placed an emphasis on live streamed gaming content, what happens when an industry giant like Facebook/Meta begins to shut down its connection to gaming bit by bit starting with it’s Facebook Gaming App? Do we even need Facebook in this aspect of gaming when we have industry giants YouTube and Twitch?
Episode Discussion