A parent-approved computer game
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- čas přidán 13. 04. 2024
- Sabrina Cruz, Melissa Fernandes and Taha Khan from 'Answer in Progress' discuss a question about a confounding console.
LATERAL is a weekly podcast about interesting questions and even more interesting answers, hosted by Tom Scott. For business enquiries, contestant appearances or question submissions, visit www.lateralcast.com
GUESTS:
Sabrina Cruz: @answerinprogress, / nerdyandquirky
Melissa Fernandes: @answerinprogress, / mehlizfern
Taha Khan: @answerinprogress, / khanstopme
HOST: Tom Scott.
QUESTION PRODUCER: David Bodycombe.
RECORDED AT: The Podcast Studios, Dublin.
EDITED BY: Julie Hassett.
GRAPHICS: Chris Hanel at Support Class. Assistant: Dillon Pentz.
MUSIC: Karl-Ola Kjellholm ('Private Detective'/'Agrumes', courtesy of epidemicsound.com).
FORMAT: Pad 26 Limited/Labyrinth Games Ltd.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: David Bodycombe and Tom Scott.
© Pad 26 Limited (www.pad26.com) / Labyrinth Games Ltd. 2024. - Zábava
Fun fact, Boktai is short for "Bokura no Taiyō" (僕らの太陽 ), which means "Our Sun". Also, it was a series created by Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear Solid fame.
I'm so not surprised by this info, wow
Kojima references it in mgs4 where there's a special unlockable weapon that fires a bolt of light and recharges in sunlight
@@JackRaiden12 yup, I remember that
Just not surprised from having such a creative gameplay mechanic
Yeah, that checks out - it's an EXTREMELY Kojumbo thing to do.
Here's hoping Death Stranding 2 comes with a treadmill that charges in-game stamina
"In the video game Boktai..." is all it took for me to know the answer
Exact same, this was one of my fave games as a kid, so the second i heard the name i was sayin the answer xD
big same
Same!
I was talking to myself as I listened to this while driving the other day. I was like, "Well, Sabrina, that's not the full name of the game. It's 'Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand.'" Then later when they mentioned using a flashlight I was like, "Won't work, the light sensor is detecting UV not just brightness."
Same
For some reason, the thumbnail made me think that this was a question about "Mario is Missing" or something like that, one of those real cheesy licensed Nintendo educational games.
I was thinking Mario Paint
Parents loved it, as it was made specifically to answer to their demand for educational games that didn't suck
I approve, because it just changes the difficulty depending on where you are, it does not narc you out, it does not make it impossible to play, it just changes.
Loved this game. The gimmick is wonderfully done. Living in Florida is a bonus.
I was livin in Cali when i played this game as a kid, and i had sm fun playin it
Condolences for all the mosquito bites.
And why did you have to enter the time of day and location, if you don't mind my asking? That would be needed for computing the Sun's position, but the game could sense sunlight directly. What was the point?
@cykkm much like with Pokémon, its internal clock needed to be initially set to make sure the in-game day/night cycles ran correctly. Added immersion and gave a bit of urgency when it started to get dark IRL, and you weren't done with a level.
@@Dawnstar1350 Thanks, got it! I didn't think of the cheap light sensor that will hardly sense any light at all if you step inside. They probably had a 25-cent budget for this extra part in the cartridge.
“much like with Pokémon” - much like with… who? Bear with me, when Boktai came out I _wasn't_ a kid, I _had_ kids. Was it the smartphone game where goal was to catch monsters in physical space, all the rage in 2016? It was daughter's sophomore year at UC Berkeley, and I happened to a conference in S.F., so she came by train meet with me. We went for a walk in the evening, and she was locating and catching them from time to time. That was fun!
This game was pretty popular to bring up as an example of "look at the cool things games used to do" in retro communities 10 years ago, I've heard the name so much I guess I internalized that trivia as common knowledge
I am deeply, deeply entrenched in video games and Boktai is one of my favorite series, so this was a fun adventure in learning about "average familiarity".
I'd like to thank my girlfriend for linking this video to enjoy my shoutin'.
Also if anyone is curious: it did have to be direct UV light, so windows would often severely hamper any amount of sunlight you'd get. As a Canadian in the far north this made playing the games nearly impossible, but I did manage to beat the second one despite my hour of sunlight a day!
@@LaZodiac I knew i was rememberin right, i was like "its a UV meter, not a light meter" when they said light meter
That flashlight trick wudntve worked xD But also it did have a wpn you cud get that worked best in darkness, so its not like you cudnt play it inside heh
(ETA: Conflated Boktai 2 with the first one here)
@@SylviaRustyFae It took until end game to unlock that weapon, so the first game was definitely more of a stealth game with some solar based combat.
@@SylviaRustyFae You mean the weapon that was a reward for beating the game on hard mode, the one that didn't do damage to any undead enemy? The dark gun was more of an easter egg and entertaining way to kill golems/possesed armor.
@@boggart1062 I think im conflatin that with Boktai 2's use of a dark gun; cuz i know i also played a lot of Boktai 2 and loved it. I didnt play the third tho
Finally, a Lateral highlight where I knew the answer already!
But... but... in full sunlight you couldn't see anything on the GBA screen, backlit or not!. You'd need to go outside and play it under a blanket, with just the solar panel poking out.
Havin played it in Cali back in the day. What i wud do is find a tree and sit under its shade so i cud see my screen, i didntve an SP even. It wud give me like 80% light power, and if i needed full, id position my game boy advance so the cartridge got direct light but not my screen (wudve neen far harder to do on an SP bcuz of cartridge placement)
I was rly glad tho when i got the dark wpn so i didntve to play outside in nearly direct sunlight all the time heh
Huh? I specifically remember it requiring a bright light to be able to see. The back was reflective.
I knew this immediately because of all the crossover content it has with the Megaman Battle Network series, since they were made by the same team.
Same, the gun del sol chip also powered up if Lan was outside
@@taimunozhan HUH. Now that is something I didn't know, even as much as I'd played those games.
Yes! I got Boktai 2 to try and do the crossover, but never ended up doing it lol
AHA!
I finally get to be the guy who sits out a question from the very beginning for once. xD
The solar panel only worked in sunlight, you can't use it next to the window because the windows block the UV needed to register on the sensor. You could get around that by playing next to a blacklight. This was also one of my favorite games as a kid and I would love to get my hands on a second cartridge to get all sigils so I can complete the Azure Sky Tower. They are really expensive because there weren't that many imported to the US.
It also had a cool feature to ensure you weren't baking in the sun too long. The gun would overheat and stop working until you moved to a less bright area and if you kept getting back into the bright sunlight, the gun would stop working for the rest of the day.
Spoken like someone who has 100% the game!
>playing next to a blacklight
oh boy, so to win the game you have to risk skin cancer and photokeratitis?
Boktai managed to be popular enough that it received two direct sequels on the GBA - Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django, and Boktai 3: Sabata's Counterattack, which also implemented light sensors.
It was not until the series' _fourth_ game, Lunar Knights, came out for the DS that they finally did away with putting a light sensor on the game itself, opting instead to make it so that players could charge weapons in other ways - but like other DS games that know if you have certain other games in the GBA slot, if you put Boktai 1, 2, or 3 in the GBA slot, Lunar Knights would see it, and offer to let you use the predecessor's light sensor, so you can still elect to charge your weapons that way if you want.
This is the first time I'm hearing of that mechanic in the DS game, and that's wonderfully charming
Back in the day I had wished they made a Boktai for the Wii, make a light sensor that was on a long USB cable that would plug into the console and you affix it to a window or have it be wireless and you set it outside a window, or the solar power you get is determined every hour by the weather locally near you based on your home set in The Weather Channel...
Other (probably) parent-approved game, Typing of the Dead. At least if I was a parent.
This was the most frustrated I've been BEGGING the players to say the answer for any lateral question 🤣
Not to be weird, but I equally find all 3 of the Answers in Progress crew to be so very charming, attractive & friendly... I wish they were my friend's a little 😂
Ah, the Gun Del Sol. I'd read of this game might've gotten it purely by name. Never did get a chance to play it, though.
this question had me screaming immediately YOU NEED SUNLIGHT TO PLAY IT. one of Hideo Kojima's weirder games.
also, congrats to answer in progress for getting a new slogan: they have never once considered going outside. lol
All I could think of when time of day and energy were mentioned as factors was something involving insulin and food schedules for diabetic children. I was thinking along the lines of that educational game Captain Novolin for SNES.
It's exciting to know the answer from the get go, and fascinating to hear the discussion how they are going to get to the answer.
Funny thing: I saw this highligt when it released, but I got to the episode about a week later. So when they read it in the pod my first thought was: "They have already had this question." 😅
Never played Boktai, but I knew it instantly because of Mega Man Battle Network.
If you liked MMBN you'd have liked Boktai. I had both way back then and loved the crossovers between the two games. They play very differently but have a similar feel, if that makes sense. I also found that a blacklight was great for playing this game at night/indoors, and so I always had 100% power when playing.
If you miss playing MMBN, I would also suggest looking up the game one step from eden. It's a rougelike that's only combat inspired by BN, but way more complex and way harder.
I belive you can play VS in OSFE
@@mawillix2018 they came out with duelists of eden for the vs experience. I played it a bit but haven't had as much time to get gud as I would like.
the only reason I know anything about Boktai is because of the cross-over it had, connecting with the later "MegaMan Battle Network" games. It was one of my favorite battle chips in Battle Network 5.
same!
i love how even when you lot basically had the answer you where still looking puzzled and confused, especially Tom xD
I knew this one from the start because I remember hearing about the idea of a GBA cart that required sunlight to charge in-game weapons and thinking "I guess that game's not for me, I live in Scotland" 🤣
The fastest I've ever guessed correctly. 🤣
I also remember the "flaw" of the very innovative cartridge was the limitation of the GBA itself (not the later SP edition)
Honestly surprised the undead-hate-sunlight thing never came to mind.
Yay a question I could get right off the bat due to being a massive nerd when it comes to gaming.
Imagine getting this game but you live in Glasgow.
Fun fact: The Megaman Battle Network series had ongoing crossovers with Boktai... that was mostly cut from later international installments, because Boktai kinda flopped outside Japan!
One of my favorite games of all time. Oddly I remember it working on my Game Boy Color, I never owned a GBA.
Battle Network gang represent
Now on switch!
Here here!
hell yeah!
Hell yeah!
Was it released in Australia?
knew this one omg
Im suprised how oblivious they are
One of the very few I knew straight away, was surprised no mention of the game being made by Legendary game creator Hideo Kojima.
A surprising freebie for me and probably many others familiar with the game!
Initial thoughts: because it forces the game's inner schedule on the kid's gaming schedule. For example, if in-game you have almost nothing to do during the day, the kid will mostly do proper IRL stuff (school, chores, non-screen activities, etc.). And when the game's undead comes out at night, in the kid's evening free-play time, the kid can play his heart out until bedtime. The parents don't do the discipline; the game does, as playing it too much during the day would be quickly boring and discouraging.
This also helps teach responsibilities, time-management skills, and delayed gratification to the kid. This is especially true in conjunction with "no undead gaming unless all chores are done" types of deal.
As it seems to be a Japan focused game (exclusive release?), the game could very well conform neatly to its schoolkids schedule.
I like the commitment of Taha to find ways around "kid going outside", even if he understood the twist.
They misrepresent it a little here, the in game day/night stuff does change enemy patterns but it's more for flavor rather than to try and influence when you would play. Most of the game takes place in enclosed spaces and the outdoors levels tend to feature enemies like golems who don't care about sunlight, in truth you could beat the game with minimal sunlight since only the second phase for main boss fights actually requires it to progress. One of the main things it does do though is lock the weapon if the UV sensor is at a high level for too long. Playing in the sun is great, sitting in the sun till you get sunburn not so much.
Now I want to buy this game and try it out
Or in the Arctic, you can charge the energy weapon any time of day from April to September, but you can’t use it at all from October to March.
Hideo Kojima is credited as the designer of this game, wtf
He did a lot before Metal Gear.
@@Kharmitas And in-between Metal Gear games as well. Boktai was released in 2004.
I have no idea how this comment clued me in but I just figured it out. The character's name is Solar Boy Django. Django is an old Western whose main character of the same name drags a coffin around, and in Boktai after you defeat a vampire you need to drag their coffin back to the entrance of the dungeon to destroy it. Being reminded it was a Kojima game and remembering that he tends to be blunt about character names FINALLY had me realize that connection!
Fun fact: You can find the boktai gun in metal gear solid 4. It has a special animation for shooting the (only) vampire in the game.
Bonus: Kojima himself is in Mega Man Battle Network as an NPC, for the Boktai crossover.
1:05 I only had the regular GameBoy Advance; if i had had an SP this game wudve been much easier for me to play 😅
Oh snap, I *never* expected a Boktai question in Lateral. I think I missed out on 1, but got 2 because of a tie-in to the MegaMan Battle Network series.
The gimmick was interesting, but didnt work out so well due to, well, something to do with the GBA screen (kept intentionally vague for new viewers)
And all those kids got sunburn
The GBA already have countermeasures for that! It's called "the screen's too f'ckin dim against the glare"
0:37 does the game keep track of the hour, and locks when it's past bedtime?
3:03 ooh, is it making sure the kid gets outside while the weather is good?
Heh... I'd say I was close enough...
(spoilers within) This is def by far the earliest ive ever gotten an answer to one of these questions, even tho its not the first time i knew the answer from the question
As soon as you said Boktai, i exclaimed "Boktai! Bcuz it makes you play outside! I loved this game!"
I remember fondly findin trees to sit under so i cud see my dim game screen but still get enuf direct light to charge my atks :3 Boktai was an awesome game and id love to see smth with a similar game mechanic today
6:00 I have to pt out one small thing theyre all gettin wrong about this game here...
It wasnt that "you could only play it in the sun/day"; it was that your default wpns were charged by the sun. There was another wpn you cud get which worked the opposite too.
There were also some puzzles that relied on you changin the amount of light youre gettin cuz all the light all the time wasnt the pt
The pt wasnt to narc on the kids or to even make the kids only able to play durin the day; the whole pt of the game was to have a mechanic that wud get a kid to have to change the environment they played their game in, be that havin to go outside and play the game or havin to find a somewhat shady spot to have a half full meter for smth specific, or even havin to play after the sun went down, or inside, so they cud play certain parts
Also, iirc it wasnt a light meter; it was a UV meter, so it didnt trigger off most indoor lightin at the time
All in all, Boktai is an awesome game and id love to see a modern game try a similar approach some time, but seems unlikely as most games are on discs instd of cartridges now
I remember that lots of people wanted to download this ROM when it came out. I guess they were curious about what it was going to be like to play it on the computer? idklol
Doh, I remember the stories of this game. I should of gotten this.
Oh wasn't this the one with the daylight sensor?
Designed for countries where each day has equal amount of sun light? Would not be much fun in the Finnish winter.
I thought the game would start a one-hour timer after playing a long time, so that the players would have to take a break.
I see that a light sensor is a lot more fun than getting roadblocked.
Thats actually sick. They put in a lot more effort than just a silly little "go outside kids" gimmick, so I think its awesome!
never knew the name of the game and never owned it but this video had me banging my head against the wall listening to the wrong answers
When the name of the game came up I instantly knew the answer - the game cart had a solar panel on it that was used to "charge" Django's weapon by playing the game outdoors in the sunlight. XD
I feel like this is the first time I knew the answer
I only know about Boktai bc it was randomly in a naruto animation skit in the early 2000s where Sakura was doing the early 2000s thing of shipping the boys.
I was thinking if the time was during school hours it wouldn’t play.
I had a feeling it would be about Boktai.
I'm trying to remember if it was one of the Golden Sun games that had a similar gimmick, either a light meter or a clock or something? Anyone?
God this one was brutal. Some people have indoor-cats. Some children are indoor-children. For a group of indoor-children, who probably got yelled at by their parents to "go outside and play", this is just embarrassing.
The question isn’t being all that clear: I’m not sure if entering the time and location helped.
Anyway, there was a solar sensor in the cartridge; it was trying to encourage kids to go outside.
As a non-British, what the spork is "narc" or "narc adjacent"?
Narc is also used in the US. Essentially, it means an undercover cop, usually in a school, who looks for behaviour such as possession of drugs, or assault.
In this context, it Essentially means snitch
Hideo freaking Kojima at it again c:
The answer was dangling in front of them.
Gamers, represent!
Sabrina, real gamer, referencing the guitar hero controller when discussing novelties similar to a glow in the dark cartridge
I'm confused. Why does the player need to enter time and location, if the game can detect sunlight all by itself?
I think it's the other way around. It needs to know when to bring the vampires out at night, rather than you've put the game in a dark place.
Boktai: *The Sun Is In Your Hand*
Just imagine you live in the parts of the world that dont get sunlight for half the year, and dont get dark for the other half.
I'm from northern Canada, north of the 60th parallel. An hour of sunlight or so each day in winter meant this is EXACTLY as bad as you think.
Just when they said the game boktai i knew it's because of the going out to see the sun
Great game. One of my favorite gba titles. I cheated this game by buying a uv light. 😂
Kojima the god 🙌🙏
You could never play this in the easiest configuration in Britain because it's cloudy all the time so it wouldn't ever register enough light.
I knew this one immediately...never played it but knew of this game
TAIYOU!!!!!!!
When my mom wanted me to be outside, she'd put me outside and lock the doors.
Well, you need to play on the actual surface of the sun to see anything with a regular GBA. Not so with SP, of course.
Why is that one guest talking into a dog's tail?
Boktai! The sun is in your hand!!
...Their obsession with the game becoming unplayable at certain times confuses me. There are possible states for a game other than working and not working!
The real reason parents bought this game: Mom wants to open a bottle of wine in the afternoon.
If you played thisgame it was answered afte rreading only the first 1/5 th of the question...
Easiest question on Lateral so far one were I'd definitly have to go "I have to sit this one out" xD
Yep heh
Knew it immediately! Was funny how they went the exact wrong way.
Spoiler of course
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Boktai is short for Bokura no Taiyou, which literally translated to "Our Sun".
The AIP crew once more pulled out an insta-answer in this episode, which would probably make a good short to be honest
"Lateral with Tom Scott" where Tom Scott says, like, three sentences. Sabrina ran away with the show this time, and Taha was a close second, they were both brilliant.
Out....side? Direct...sun? I don't understand these mouth-sounds, I think you're making them up.
"Ta-ma-GO-chi". Go, like going, gone, went... go. I don't understand why everyone has such trouble with this. The word is a portmanteau of tamago (egg) and tomodachi (friend). Japanese only has five vowel sounds, and they're the same as Spanish: ah, ii, eh, oh, uu. This bugs me, because people are just too lazy to get it right.
It's not laziness. People shouldn't be expected to automatically know how to pronounce foreign words without being taught. When it came out I didn't care or know that it was japanese, let alone have the ability to find out the correct pronunciation.