Cozy up by the fire and join us for our annual holiday send-off, filled with tales of Christmas past, plans for winter break, and plenty more. Thanks as always for listening, and see you in 2021!

Time – Topic Discussed:

00:36 - Nicknames
12:41 - Sega Astro City Mini
23:01 - Return of the Obra Dinn (there are no spoilers)
32:09 - Jet Force Gemini
40:25 - Animal Crossing: New Horizons
54:51 - Phantasy Star Online 20th Anniversary
1:06:12 - Video Game Related Holiday Memories
1:19:02 - News: The Game Awards roundup, Cyberpunk 2077, Monster Hunter Movie, and more!
2:04:38 - Game and TV Plans for the Holiday Break

This week we record before both The Game Awards AND the release of Cyberpunk 2077. But that doesn't stop us from ad-libbing some game award moments and re-visiting our Netflix corner.

Thanksgiving might be a little different this year, but like Olaf famously put it in Frozen II "8-4 Play is always there for you." Brighten up your Black Friday with bawdy tales of Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, and Japanese housing regulations. Hack the planet!

This week we trace some rays and flop some...teras? Anyway, next-gen is finally here!

Halloween is nearly here, but there'll be no Shibuya parties for us. Instead, we'll settle for the excitement of next-gen!

This week we get a little emotional about Paper Mario. Then we get MAD! About BUTTONS! Then we bring it all home with our hot takes on the Monster Hunter movie trailer.

Time-travel back to the nostalgic past of Oct 1, 2020! Who's next in Smash? How does Super Mario Bros. 35 work? Is karma real? All these questions and more will not be answered!

This week the crew is joined by 17-Bit head honcho Jake Kazdal to break down the latest news from the PlayStation 5 showcase and miss yet another suspiciously-timed Nintendo Direct.

We've done it again! Missing a monumentous Direct by mere minutes, listen to us speculate on what Nintendo might be up to, all the while knowing we'd all find out within an hour of recording.

This week, with Mark out on vacation, the gang do their best to keep things on the rails. How did we do? Find out now!

This week, maple leaves rain down around us as we meditate on our experiences with Ghosts of Tsushima and the morality of the recent Nintendo leak.

This week we dive deep on The Last of Us Part 2 in a special spoilercast!

Author, localizer, and (most importantly) long-time friend of the show Matt Alt joins us to discuss his new book, Pure Invention: How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World. Plus the usual news and other nonsense you've come to expect from your favorite podcast about Japan, and games, and Japanese games.

This week we touch briefly on The Last of Us--or how it makes us feel things. Dark things. Then it's business as usual with talk of the latest Pokémon news, the joy of mining, and of course Strong Zero.

Big gaming news on a Friday again, huh? Guess it won't be in the latest 8-4 Play... WRONG. We went all out and recorded a special PS5 segment on Friday! Join us, as we gaze into the traceable rays and haptic sounds of the future.

It's here! The 8-4 Play FF7R Spoilercast! Stick around to the end of this week's episode to hear all our timely, spoilery takes.

This week we talk about the big changes happening in civilization—Civilization 6, that is! We also check in on Animal Crossing and pour one out for TGS.

 Brand new audio, same old cast. Well, besides Roy and Derm. So basically not the same old cast. Anyway, grab a beverage and saddle up (indoor) poolside as we celebrate Golden Week responsibly and put our new trial audio engineer's skills to the test. 

Strap on your nostalgia goggles-- Or wait, maybe take them off? I'm not sure! Because this week we dive deep on Final Fantasy VII Remake, in this spoiler-free spectacular.

This week we embrace the future of podcasting technology while gushing about Animal Crossing. Wash your hands.

We hunker down to discuss that PS5 presentation, the latest from Indie World, and our favorite gaming smells.

The gang takes a break from scouring Tokyo for toilet paper to talk about the Final Fantasy VII Remake demo, Playstation VR, and reflect on the PS2's legacy.

This week we struggle to pick the 9 games that define us, talk about corona conspiracy theories, and speculate about the latest Animal Crossing Direct.

This week we welcome a special guest to talk about a bevy of Nintendo news and sing that Witcher song.

It's delay season, folks, and everyone is sad. But we're playing the new Yakuza, so it's not all bad!

We're back from the holiday break, with stories to tell of video games, travel, and pants-wetting.