Long ago, two races rule over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS. One day, war broke out between the two races. After a long battle, the humans were vicorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell...or so the opening crawl of Undertale would have you believe is the full story.

Special thanks to @squirrelmancer for commissioning today's episode! You can commission your own FLAVOR TEXT right now! If you want us to breakdown your favorite, niche IP, head over to patreon.com/debatethiscast!

Recommended Reading:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLTHWT9pZso

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH05QKkk6Q8

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr4IYjeplJA

• Toby Fox's Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@toby-fox-music/featured

• Undertale - Epic Cover Collection: https://open.spotify.com/album/3XwEBM7qrMDNlba3HDrTMH

• Filled with Pride: An LGBTQ+ Tribute to Undertale: https://gamegrooves.com/music/filled-with-pride

Have you seen our Instagram? instagram.com/debatethiscast
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Want to send us an email? debatethiscast@gmail.com

Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Photo credit: It’s Sans Undertale! Via Versus Compendium Wiki

When a podcast records its ninth season premier, it begins to ponder its relevance. Are people still listening? Are there any debates left to be had? Have we done all the bits there are to do? When these questions begin to plague a podcaster, they return to their roots: Pokémon and formative British literature. Don't worry, we found another bit! This time we're building Pokémon games on a budget.

Kyle suggests standardization. Matt suggests recycling. Andrew suggests seizing the means of production.

The title of this week's episode was NOT selected by our Patrons in our Discord Community because we didn't want to spoil the bit! That said, if you want to help us choose the next one, join our discord, and/or get some bonus content, become part of #ButtThwompNation at patreon.com/debatethiscast

Have you seen our Instagram? instagram.com/debatethiscast
Have you seen our YouTube? youtube.com/@debatethiscast
Want to send us an email? debatethiscast@gmail.com

MERCH! We have that! Right now you can go on the internet and order things that say Debate This! On them! All you need to do is head to MerchThis.net and give us your money! Ever wanted socks with the DT! logo on them? Well now you can get em! One more time that website is MerchThis.net!

Properties we talked about this week: Pokemon, Animal Farm, Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Go

Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Image Credit: I swapped the pig on the 2014 Penguin version of George Orwell’s Animal Farm for a Lechonk and then called it POKEMON FARM.

Here's a trailer for Debate This! Season 9 and what we have on the calendar for this year. 

See everyone? It's a trailer! You can start here! You don't have to go back and listen to episode 1. Please don't go back and listen to episode 1.

Have you seen our Patreon? patreon.com/debatethiscast
Have you seen our Instagram? instagram.com/debatethiscast
Have you seen our Threads? threads.net/debatethiscast
Want to send us an email? debatethiscast@gmail.com

Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

2025 has been the year of the LIVE! show at DT!HQ, so we're capping off the season with one more. Back in July, we braved the muggy streets of downtown Pittsburgh, PA and had our largest crowd yet at Tekko! With large crowds comes large responsibility and thus we asked: which IRL job would make the best subject matter for a JRPG?

Andrew is marketing, Todd is installing, and Kyle is at home in bed.

Recommended reading:
You can find the PowerPoint at the following link. If your podcast app doesn't support links, please visit our website to find the slides at debatethiscast.com! https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1btW1ztuclWB8N9mLE6JaVGVMjQiSbgTuE_X9o7vuOgc/edit?usp=sharing

A massive thank you to the folks at Tekko Pittsburgh for inviting us to their event! You can find out more about their other events at https://tekko.us!

Have you seen out Patreon? patreon.com/debatethiscast
Have you seen our Instagram? instagram.com/debatethiscast
Have you seen our Threads? threads.net/debatethiscast
Want to send us an email? debatethiscast@gmail.com

MERCH! We have that! Right now you can go on the internet and order things that say Debate This! On them! All you need to do is head to MerchThis.net and give us your money! Ever wanted socks with the DT! logo on them? Well now you can get em! One more time that website is MerchThis.net!

Properties we talked about this week: Mad Men, Severance, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Triangle Strategy, Garrus Vakarian

Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Image Credit: It us!

DONATE TO FEED AMERICA HERE: https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants/Debate-This

After seven, non-denominational, winter gift exchanges, we here at DT!HQ decided to change things up. We've gifted each other so many ridiculous video game peripherals that we forgot to set aside a game to play! Well we summoned the Ghosts of Gamings Past, Present and Future to teach us about the winter, nond-denominational holiday could be. They're going to lead us through a retrospective journey as we determine which cancelled video game of yore should be revived for gamers in 2026.

Andrew is ready to show us what you can do with infinite crowd funding money. Kyle is ready to show us what you can do if you don't feed into corporate monopoly. Todd is here to show us what you can do if you keep your promises.

The title of this week's episode was selected by our Patrons in our Discord Community! If you want to help us choose the next one, join our discord, and/or get some bonus content, become part of #ButtThwompNation at patreon.com/debatethiscast!

Have you seen our Instagram? instagram.com/debatethiscast
Have you seen our Threads? threads.net/debatethiscast
Want to send us an email? debatethiscast@gmail.com

MERCH! We have that! Right now you can go on the internet and order things that say Debate This! On them! All you need to do is head to MerchThis.net and give us your money! Ever wanted socks with the DT! logo on them? Well now you can get em! One more time that website is MerchThis.net!

Properties we talked about this week: Star Citizen, No Man's Sky, Diddy Kong Racing, Overwatch 2

Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Image Credit: Took the Overwatch 2 logo and put a 3 on it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

DONATE TO FEED AMERICA HERE: https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/teams/PodcastersFightHunger

Esports may seem like a wild, new phenomenon, but the story of competitive gaming starts in 1972. Sure, they weren't filling arenas or handing out scholarships 50 years ago, but these proto-esports paved the way for the modern industry. From the first women to be called "professional gamers," to the release of Quake in 1996, to the rise and fall of the Overwatch League, strap in for the story of modern esports!

You can commission your own FLAVOR TEXT right now! If you want us to breakdown your favorite, niche IP, head over to patreon.com/debatethiscast!

Recommended Reading:

• Debate This! FLAVOR TEXT: The Console Wars

• Debate This! FLAVOR TEXT: Emesis Blue

• Rolling Stone "SPACEWAR"

• Gremlin Girls

• Amusment Players Association PDF

• Thresh Quake Run at Red Annihilation

• Original Team Liquid news blog

• Evo Moment #37

• Newzoo Esports Audience Report

• Modern MBA "The Crooked Economics of Esports"

Have you seen our Instagram? instagram.com/debatethiscast
Have you seen our Threads? threads.net/debatethiscast
Want to send us an email? debatethiscast@gmail.com

Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Image Credit: Major League Gaming logo via Logopedia

DONATE TO FEED AMERICA HERE: https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/teams/PodcastersFightHunger

There's so much pleasure in the simple. The joy that comes from simple, arcade beat 'em up games is unmatched by the AAA gaming experience. Also, the joy that comes from reality TV shows like the Simple Life is unmatched by anything with cultural significance. This week, we're combining two simple things to make one, slightly more complicated thing! Gather all your quarters because this week we're turning beat 'em up games into reality TV shows!

Kyle is focusing on a family dynamic. Matt is focusing on a dating dynamic. Andrew is focusing on a workplace dynamic.

The title of this week's episode was selected by our Patrons in our Discord Community! If you want to help us choose the next one, join our discord, and/or get some bonus content, become part of #ButtThwompNation at patreon.com/debatethiscast!

Have you seen our Instagram? instagram.com/debatethiscast
Have you seen our Threads? threads.net/debatethiscast
Want to send us an email? debatethiscast@gmail.com

MERCH! We have that! Right now you can go on the internet and order things that say Debate This! On them! All you need to do is head to MerchThis.net and give us your money! Ever wanted socks with the DT! logo on them? Well now you can get em! One more time that website is MerchThis.net!

Properties we talked about this week: Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Viewtiful Joe, The Osbournes, TLC, VH1, Bravo Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, I Love New York, Charm School, Splatterhouse, TMNT: Turtles In Time, Real Housewives, Big Brother

Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Photo Credit: I photo shopped Krang, Casey Jones and Viewtiful Joe into a Real Housewives Graphic.

We here at DT!HQ are beyond stoked to team up with our friends across the internet to help fight hunger! We're working with other podcasters, streamers and content creators to raise money for Feeding America. 47 million Americans are facing food insecurity and are losing access to vital support like SNAP. Every $1 raised can provide up to 10 meals through Feeding America. Join us in our #PodcastersFightHunger giving campaign through December 21st, 2025 and help us prove that, while no one is right, everyone deserves to eat!

DONATE TO FEED AMERICA HERE: https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/teams/PodcastersFightHunger

Feed America is a nationwide, independent, secular, hunger-relief organization. Find out more about them at feedingamerica.org.

Other participating podcasts and creators include:

• The Monsters Playbook

• Shrimp and Crits

• Memester of the Week

• $2 Creature Feature

• The Thorne Files

• Date With Us

• Kitten Marlow

• Trials of the Apocalypse

• The Storyteller Squad

• The Critshow

• Pest Control

• CookieJarPottery (ttv)

• RecordsOfTheRealms (ttv)

• JimmyBeatsWorld (ttv)

• hazelazazelzel (ttv)

• Sarah Davis Baker (YT)

• Meadowlark Games

There's just so much content! Not only is there more content than any one person could ever consume, but the glut of content has also made it difficult for any one property to make a cultural splash. Back in the 2000s, a single TV show or movie could make such a big cultural splash that they would spawn a tie-in video game! It may be hard to believe, but people used like content so much that they wanted more of it! That's why we here at DT!HQ are getting nostalgic and determining "which current TV show deserves a tie-in video game?"

Andrew is redefining the corporate ladder. Matt is taking us to Newark, New Jersey. Todd is forcing us to stare into the trash pile.

The title of this week's episode was selected by our Patrons in our Discord Community! If you want to help us choose the next one, join our discord, and/or get some bonus content, become part of #ButtThwompNation at patreon.com/debatethiscast!

Have you seen our Instagram? instagram.com/debatethiscast
Have you seen our Threads? threads.net/debatethiscast
Want to send us an email? debatethiscast@gmail.com

MERCH! We have that! Right now you can go on the internet and order things that say Debate This! On them! All you need to do is head to MerchThis.net and give us your money! Ever wanted socks with the DT! logo on them? Well now you can get em! One more time that website is MerchThis.net!

Properties we talked about this week: Succession, Guilty Gear, Dragon Ball Z, The Simpson's Arcade Game, What We Do In The Shadows, 90 Day Fiance

Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!

Image Credit: I took a photo of Big Ed from this article and put it on the cover of a Guilty Gear Vinyl. You’re welcome.

This month's FLAVOR TEXT has everything: A giant, fighting robot, time travel, parallel universes, That Man and Bad Guy, and a boy bolted to a flying bed who haunts your dreams. All this and more can be yours for the low, low price of listening to our breakdown of Guilty Gear, the most bananas property we may have ever done!

Imgur Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/1OZNJVd

Special thanks to @zhakhix for commissioning today's episode and indirectly haunting our collective dreams with this fighting game story that makes Mortal Kombat sound like Bluey. If you want your own personal history lesson on some niche area, check out patreon.com/debatethiscast and consider sponsoring $60 one time to get your very own FLAVOR TEXT.

Have you seen our Instagram? instagram.com/debatethiscast 
Have you seen our Threads? threads.net/debatethiscast
Want to send us an email? debatethiscast@gmail.com

Music for Debate This! is provided by composer Ozzed under a creative commons license. Check out more of their 8-bit bops at www.ozzed.net!