episode

The Ringer&#039;s Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion briefly discuss the latest trailer for &#039;The Last of Us Part II&#039; (1:00) then bring on Kotaku news editor and &#039;Blood, Sweat, and Pixels&#039; author Jason Schreier for a wide-ranging discussion about &#039;Super Mario Odyssey&#039; and Nintendo&#039;s stellar 2017 (9:00); the fall of Visceral Games and the cancellation of another high-profile &#039;Star Wars&#039; game (27:00); the proliferation of loot boxes and microtransactions; whether loot boxes constitute gambling&#039; and the cyclical nature of the video game industry (41:25); and the crowded release calendar and &#039;South Park: The Fractured But Whole&#039; (54:00).
 
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Ben is a writer, podcaster, and editor who covers culture and sports. He hosts ‘Effectively Wild’ at FanGraphs and previously wrote for FiveThirtyEight and Grantland, served as editor-in-chief of Baseball Prospectus, and authored ‘The MVP Machine’ and ‘The Only Rule Is It Has to Work.’

Ben Lindbergh

Jason Concepcion

More ‘Mario,’ Visceral, Gambling on Loot Boxes, and ‘South Park’ (Ep. 59)

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