181 · Taboo: The Sixth Sense

• Your personal look into the future, your window onto the unknown
• NES Longplay - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOiaYTA82us
• Introductions
  • WELL IT’S NOT THAT BOARD GAME
  • I can’t wait for the NES Ouji Board
• Overview
  • This is a Tarot card simulator
• Gameplay
  • The game requires input of the player's name, birth date, and gender.
  • What was your question
  • Choose a state to get Lotto numbers
  • The game uses the whole 78-card tarot deck, which consists of the Minor Arcana and Major Arcana.
  • Nudity and religious images
  • The booklet also lists the arcana and cards, and goes into further detail of the layout, including what each position on the Celtic cross means.
  • No mystical or magical claims are GUARANTEED or INFERRED
• Urban legend
  • An urban legend surrounding Taboo states that the game had accurately predicted the deaths of some of its young players
• Sequels and Spinoffs
  • TAROT MYSTERY - SFC
• EGL
• Next week - Taboo: Sixth Sense

Auto-generated transcript. Each paragraph starts with its timestamp. Speakers are not identified.

00:00 Taboo, your personal look into the future, your window unto the unknown.

00:21 And welcome to NEStalgia, a chronological exploration of every NES game released in North America. I'm Mike. I'm Sean. I'm Joe. And I'm Sam. Well, guys, it's not the board game.

00:40 No, it's certainly not. It's certainly not anything we predicted. It's not a game. Yeah. If only we would have asked Taboo what it was, we would have known. But we did guess that it was the board game Taboo a while back. And I guess it could be a board game, depending on how you look at board games. But it's more of a card game. And yes, it's a... I always said Tarot, but it is Tarot, right? So it is a Tarot card game. Yes. Who told you to say Tarot? No, as a kid, I would always just think Tarot, because, you know, the T at the end. Yeah. It feels like it wants to be said.

01:20 Okay. It looks like Carrot a little bit, too. Yeah. It just felt like it wanted to be there. But Tarot is also... It adds to the element of mystery behind it. Kind of like how I can't wait now for the NES Ouija board, which clearly they will make a game... Rare will definitely make a Ouija board game. But Ouija is also not something that you would expect to be spelt the way it was. But it is. So, so is Taboo. Yeah. Those are the only things they have in common. You mean Tarot. Oh, yeah, yeah. That's funny. Yeah, I'm still doing it. Taboo is fairly phonetic. Which is funny, because the only question I asked Taboo before we recorded was, would I say Tarot correctly? And final outcome was no. See, I always thought it was Taboot.

02:09 Jesus. Now, what's funny is, like, yeah, why is it called Taboo, the sixth sense? Well... If it has nothing... Like, Sean, you seem like you have an answer, so I'm listening. I mean, you know, like, Tarot is kind of... It's associated with more... Not a cult, but I guess more spiritual, non-major religion, pagan stuff, I guess.

02:38 That's a lot of just guessing. That's a lot of just throwing it out there. It sounds like you have extreme knowledge in this scenario. No, I don't really have any knowledge in this scenario. I would just say that the taboo is that, you know, you're not supposed to know your future. You're supposed to just let life happen, and it's very vain of you to think that you could know, you know? I think that it's about contextualizing your surroundings and providing different angles to look at your life. In more of like a self-help way? Uh, in a way, yeah. Like, it gives you... It makes you think about things that maybe you wouldn't normally have applied to the situation that you're presenting.

03:26 Okay. Taboo does come with a lot of warnings on the box, in the manual. Um, but the most poignant of any of those warnings is that the future shown to you is only as it may be if current circumstances continue along their present course, unhindered, or the current situation prevails. Any effects may change your destiny or the destiny of others. That is a large disclaimer. That's not really like a warning. Basically a disclaimer saying that like, this is just something that might or might not be real. Like, it's just like covering all, you know, it's like the whole, you know, the whole medium thing where it's like, well, yeah, this will happen unless it doesn't.

04:16 Well, it seems like it's, it's like determin, it's like determinists, unless you like go out of your way to change what's already going to happen. So if you just continue as you're going, continue living your day to day, or you can make some change to your day to day. That would change that. You can take control of your destiny.

04:37 I'll interpret it that way. Yeah, one thing that I just want to make clear to the listener, this is not a game. This is a tarot reading simulator where the computer draws cards from a tarot deck after you put some basic information about yourself into it. And then it gives you a very basic reading of those cards. So I just, if there's any question about you, but you think very basic, I would argue that this is for an eight bit video game. The fact that it uses an entire like minor and major, uh, 78 card tarot deck plus gives like a complete reading is something that otherwise the player would have to seek out for like $25 at one of those like back alleys. Have you ever had a tarot reading?

05:31 No, but you know, you see those and like the, they're right next to the spas. They're like, uh, you know, this person, you know, go up the staircase and they'll tell your future.

05:40 They usually have the tarot card readings there. I don't do any of this for the record, but I will let you know that I do adhere to all the rules that, uh, rare and tweet and trade West have set up. And I was definitely over the age of 14 when I played taboo for the first time. Yeah. That's such a specific age. Like there's nothing else that like, that that's the age limit. Even like movies, it's like 13 is the, is the age limit. I didn't even know that they had an age limit. Yeah. It says you have to be over 14. You have to be, you know, minors under the age of 14. So I guess if you're an adult under the age of 14, you're allowed, but.

06:17 Yeah. Taboo is not intended for children under the age of 14. And then later on, like just a few paragraphs later, taboo should not be purchased by minors under the age of 14 years of age.

06:29 I thought it was interesting that it makes you put your birthday in. Um, as you like, when you're starting it up, it makes you put your name, uh, and your gender and your birthday. And like my birthday is after the game came out. Yeah. I was, you know, I thought that was funny too. Yeah. Like I'm there typing 2003 into this thing that came out in like 1988. But it lets you. Yeah. I mean, they know that, you know, this was going to be a game that we talked about in 2021.

07:06 Absolutely. But also like, you know, I'm just going to say this very casually cause this is not what I want the episode to be about, but it was pretty cool watching the quill, like right in all of your responses. Okay. I did appreciate that. Aesthetic going there. Yeah. I thought, I, you know, I, no joke also.

07:24 I, I, I was thinking that a little bit for the whole game, the presentation as a whole, like this game could have, like it already was, it could, it had the possibility of just being like a basic, like presentation of the information. But because it was already just like that simple, they, they went above and beyond on, on the presentation element of it. You know, there's different music track for like a bunch of different kinds of cards and there's, you know, the cards look, look nice.

07:49 And I think that the, uh, the boxes where you enter text, like the, the tech selection, I'm not sure if I'm describing this right, but you know, when you like all the, the keyboard that you use is really smooth. Yeah. I think it's the best we've had. Like wheel of fortune could have, could have learned a thing or two from this. Yeah. I'd also argue that you could just set this, you know, because you're talking about presentation, you could just set up a tent somewhere in Coney Island and just plug this in. To a CRT and just have this be like its own amusement at the park and people would play it.

08:24 Um, there's, there's definitely, uh, no, they're not skimping out here in terms of information that they're providing you, uh, experience that they're providing you and, uh, you know, faithfulness to, uh, a tarot card reading. However, there's just, there's something off about playing this game. Uh, not even, you know, don't get into whether tarot cards are real, right? Who cares? That's up to the individual. There's just something about buying this as a video game, knowing that it is just bits, right? That are assigned numbers that generate to give you readings that just makes it feel like it doesn't really matter. Well, at the end of the day, what I put in, cause it's all kind of predetermined.

09:10 Well, Mike, tarot cards are just paper with paintings and divinations. Uh, but like, uh, this, this cartridge is, was like sold in like a velvet case to protect itself from being, uh, like damaged by bad vibes. So this is basically just a deck of tarot cards, but like with, with future technology. So I looked into that. Okay. I did look into that though, because they did say that they said that it was sold, uh, under the same authenticity that like tarot cards are sold. But I can't see anything different other than just like those normal black cases that most people had to cover their NES games. And that just came in the box.

09:52 That's the only thing I noticed. Is it possible that the bag was in the box in the box? But I'm looking at a complete in box copy. Oh. And I don't see anything velvet. That's kind of, that's, that's discouraging.

10:10 I found it interesting how much the manual, somewhere in the manual, I'm trying to find it, but it's a very long manual. Uh, somewhere in the manual, it, it talks about like how taboo to the best of their ability. They, they tried to make taboo as accurate of a portrayal. Like they took it very seriously. They tried to make it as accurate of a portrayal of actual tarot cards as possible. You know, which was, which was just interesting to me. Like beforehand, when I just, cause I usually boot up the game before I read the manual. When I just booted it up, I was like, oh, okay, just a funny little thing. And then when I, when I read it, I was like, oh, these people like,

10:47 it at least seem like they're really taking this like very seriously. Yeah. They, uh, they, they describe everything about like positioning, like with the, uh, I think it's like the Celtic cross, which is like that arrangement of cards. They talk about what the different suits mean. They talk about what, uh, like a list of all of the, I guess you'd call them like face cards. Like they call them major arcana, but I'm not, I'm not sure how, uh, how, how accepted that term is. Um, but yeah, they kind of describe like sort of the methodology behind it. Um, and I, I just think it's funny to see a, a manual that reads more like a textbook than,

11:33 uh, a, a typo filled description of how to operate a controller. Well, Sean, don't forget taboo is not a game. Even according to its own manual. Oh, for sure. Taboo is not a game. I agree. Exactly who created it, this magical, mystical images for the major arcana's cards and why is still a mystery.

11:55 The sheer fact that the cards have survived the centuries in their original form is some testimony to the latent power that is stored within the startling and often disturbing images of the tarot. And disturbing is correct because somehow rare with their close connections to Nintendo has managed to include both nudity and religious imagery on their cards in the game. Something that is a huge no, no. Oh yeah. For every other NES game. I forgot which one that was, but yeah, there's definitely some toplessness involved. Uh, and there's some crosses and all that fun stuff. Uh, I'm curious though. What did you guys ask this thing?

12:39 We should just probably go around the room. So Joe, what did you ask? Well, so the first time I asked, I was still kind of playing around. So I actually don't, didn't really analyze the answer, but my first question was what year, which I didn't really understand what I was getting into. So I probably shouldn't have been so specific, but what year will I die?

13:00 It's a little dark. I don't, I didn't really analyze the answer. The second one, when I really analyzed the answer was, will I put taboo on the essential games list? Oh, so you'll have to reveal that to us later. Oh, and I have it all figured out. I'll take you through step by step what the answer is. That would, that will be amazing. Thank you for asking that question. Sean, what did you ask? I mean, I, I asked, uh, I asked the basic questions like, you know, will I be rich?

13:27 Um, uh, I mean, that's really all I care about in life. So that was the only one I did. That's why you do the podcast. You do the podcast for money, right? Absolutely. Sam, what did you ask? I also asked if this will be an essential game. That's so funny. I love that. I love that you guys did that. Um, I, I was going to a Met game that day, so I asked if the Mets will win.

13:51 Final outcome said yes, and they did. It was a squeaker. They won on the, uh, a walk-off, um, pop fly in the ninth inning. So that's pretty cool that, that, that it got it right. But to just go back to Joe asking his first question of when will I die? There is an unsubstantiated rumor on the, on the Wikipedia page, which is crazy. Wikipedia is supposed to be something that people like check out and they verify for sources. There is a urban legend section of the Wikipedia that just says, in no additional information, in urban legend surrounding taboo states that the game had accurately predicted the deaths of some of its young players.

14:37 Wow. I should have paid attention. I should have paid more attention. I was like, oh, that's pretty creepy. Let me like, you know, check for the link. Are there any citations there? So there was a citation and it took to a list of like, you know, this really clickbaity, like 10 haunted NES games and NES baseball was not on there. So I'm already like, this is bogus. But when I got to, when I got to taboo, there was no citations of like who predicted their deaths early or video, uh, you know, or images of this. It just said exactly the same thing again with no further citations. And I was like, I cannot believe that like, we're just allowed in the year 2021 to just say that these things happen without any proof.

15:25 Joe, do you remember what the last card was? I don't. I honestly don't, I don't remember any of it. It's all a blur. It's all blanked out in my mind. Mike, do you remember what the last card was for you?

15:37 Um, I don't remember what the last card was for me, but I remember not understanding a thing like I, because it was my first question, will the Mets win? You know, the way that the game works, it gives you like a, a, a quite a few cards, but none of them are the actual result until the final card. So I remember like, as the cards are coming down, it was giving me information and I was just like, okay, what does that, but what does that mean for me? Like, does that mean the Mets will win or not? And it was giving me like really abstract things.

16:08 And I just remember finally checking the manual and I can't say that I remember like what it means in terms of, will the Mets win in the present position or the immediate influence or anything. But the final result was like, you know, this will happen unless, you know, unless circumstances change. Well, which is also very vague. I asked you earlier, Mike, or actually anybody, if anybody had had a tarot card reading in the past and I have, um, I didn't pay for it. I, I have a friend that's, uh, very interested in this stuff. She has a deck of tarot cards and she's read into it quite a bit.

16:47 Um, and I had a big question for her when I was playing this game. So I just texted her. I'm like, Hey, did, well, when, when you did my reading, did you make me like ask you a question or were you just giving me a reading?

17:01 And, uh, I'm just gonna, I'm just going to quote her here. Um, no, I'm almost certain you did not give me a prompt the way I read. I'm so afraid of bias and, and believe the reading is a personal tool for reflection. Uh, I don't really let anyone give me a prompt and I just read a message I see connected with the cards and their placement in the chronology of time. Uh, she continues.

17:25 If I can't connect the 10 cards or transcribe, transcribe a connection between all the card meanings and the cards are archetypes and symbols, the meaning should be a fixed collective myth that stays consistent per card. Then I might ask my, uh, I might ask the person what was on their mind as they drew the cards. This is just what I do and what makes sense to me. Every tarot reader is different. My method might change with time experience, uh, as I change as a person.

17:54 Um, I, so I thought that was kind of interesting that, uh, the whole idea of asking, uh, the tarot reader or the game, like, will the Mets win or will I be rich or is this game essential? Uh, isn't even really like a solid part of tarot. And it's sort of like just up to perspective, um, in how it goes about it.

18:20 Um, yeah. No, it's a great point because, you know, I, I, I see both sides of it. Like I think for the game, right. Without asking the question, it becomes almost two bare bones. You know, like the question part is like the most interesting aspect of like, I can ask this thing something and then it will perfectly simulate a tarot card reading to give me an answer. But also, you know, I, I see what, you know, what your friend's saying there.

18:48 And that makes a lot of sense is that when I was asking, will the Mets win most of the 10 cards, you know, in terms of distant past and recent past events and, you know, environmental factors, they didn't make any sense in the context of my question, you know? So, but if it's just a reading of you, I think that there's a lot more of like that cold reading aspect of it where you're like, if it's a, if it's a wider, a wider gamut of emotions that you're feeling, you're not just thinking about the Mets, you're thinking about your life in general.

19:21 Um, uh, I would, I would say that there's a lot more, a lot more of an opportunity for these cards to make sense about your life. Absolutely. That's what I'm agreeing with. And that's why I think like, that's the flaw of the question part is that it, it almost makes cards one through nine kind of pointless because you're asking the question to get card 10. I'm also going to go off, uh, I'm going to read a little bit more of a quote from her, um, off of what, uh, off of what Sam said earlier.

19:52 Um, she says, I know when I'm in a crossroads, I'm stuck without ideas. I draw a tarot reading to get a jumping off point. It can either spell out a suggestion that's inspiring or a meaningless and completely off base thing. Uh, when in the weeds, it helps to have a jumping off point nonetheless. So it can also just be like a, uh, to, to, to get your mind moving. Like you said earlier, Sam.

20:17 Yeah. I, I think that this, I, I have, I've also had, um, tarot cards read, like my cards read only really once before by someone who knew what they were doing, but it, the whole thing is interpreted, you know, it's, it's like a, it, it's a connection between the person who's giving you the reading and the things that you're kind of applying those readings towards.

20:43 So the fact that this is able, it doesn't just flip a card and then say, it says like, oh, it's the, the five of the, the king or whatever it is, you know? And then you just have to like look up what that means. And then it, it gives you a little bit more than that. It tells you like, this is connected to, uh, like there's like the coin or something like this is connected to like worldly possessions.

21:08 And, um, like it'll give you these, like the, the thing that, the, the thing that's like filled in the words that are filled in at the very end are like sometimes don't make sense in the context of that question or of that, of that phrase that it's, that they're plugging it into. Cause that's what happens. They like plug in these phrases into the, the word, into the, um, the readings for each drawing. And if you have an actual reader, like they have a better, they have a better idea of like contextualizing these things and making them make at least like syntaxical sense. Yeah. It's like giving you these themes and different ideas and it's up to you to make that connection back to the original thing that you're thinking.

22:01 And I like back to your original question. And I think that this game does, or not game, this experience, uh, does do a really good job of presenting these quick, like digestible themes that you can then with only a little bit of experience with this whole system apply and get meaning out of the cards. Whereas if you were just playing with a deck of cards on your own, which you can do, you really need to know a lot more about tarot in order to get anything out of it. Yeah. No, this is a good, uh, it's a good, uh, like accessibility tool.

22:46 Yeah. Cause I'll say that, you know, when I like, when I did start taking down, like actually like writing down my, my different cards and kind of like looking, looking up what they meant in the manual and whatnot, um, with the, my essential question of whether or not I'd make this an essential game, um, I noticed that, that I was doing, I was doing a lot more thinking of it. I, although I will say that a lot of that stuff was like me doing some mental gymnastics to make things fit, you know? That's sort of what this is, yeah.

23:16 Well, right. Totally, totally. But I do feel like what, I don't remember who said it earlier, if there wasn't a question in the first place, it would maybe be easier for me to be like, oh my God, that does apply to this. And that like, my mind would just be more freely like, oh, it applies to this and that and that because like, because you can normally make anything apply to anything, but, but yeah, making that question, it both kind of hinders the experience, but then also like makes you do a little more work to like make it fit.

23:42 And on the more like, yeah, the more video game or I guess computerized side of this, uh, since we've sort of been talking about like just the idea of tarot, um, I, I, I almost think, and I have no way to, to, to figure out whether this is the case or not. I almost think that the, that the question, or at least you putting in your information is just like a seed for a random number generator or something. And that's sort of how it's like shuffling these cards for you. Um, but that's just, that's just a guess.

24:14 Uh, yeah, I feel like in some way it's gotta be though, right? Like maybe not the question itself. Cause that, you know, that depends on how long your question is or anything, but for sure, you know, and who knows, maybe they could take in like your, um, your astrology sign based on, well, that's not true cause they don't ask for your month. Oh no, they do. Yeah, they do. Yeah, you could do that. Yeah. So maybe they take your astrology sign into a consideration as well when they're drawing your cards and stuff.

24:39 But actually I didn't think to test that, but, but it would be sort of a, it would be a little bit of an issue if they, if they didn't do that. And then I can just ask the same question with all the same information twice in a row and get totally different answers. That would kind of, like it would make sense for them to have that random number generator so you can always make sure that person will get the same answer with the same question. I will say that, um, cause I was emulating this, um, I did. So, okay. So I would, I played and I rewinded because I pressed the button too fast, uh, to before one of the cards was drawn.

25:15 Um, and it was the, it was the same card, but the description was completely different. Um, I think it like, there's another library of phrases that it pulls for each card, whether in what, in whatever position that it's in. And I think maybe even that is random, like at runtime, I'm not even sure, but I thought it was interesting that just rewinding and playing on an emulator gave two different results. No, yeah. It seems like for all we know, it could also just be based on when it, you know, like when you press a button, yeah, position in time, right? Exactly. Like, I mean, all that stuff helps make it more interesting, right? I wouldn't want it to be defined by just inputs.

25:59 Yeah. You get lucky numbers at the end. And I think that you can choose them based on your state and it knows your state's like lotto numbers. So then that like gives you lucky numbers in relation to your lotto numbers. So it's really just guessing. Yeah. It's just guessing the lottery numbers in your state for you. But what I found interesting is that I have some numbers from childhood that I consider lucky. And the very first time I played this game, I got a lot of those numbers. No way. In my lucky numbers. And I thought that was kind of weird. I did not get them in future playthroughs.

26:40 But, you know, the first time that was kind of a shock. I was like, wow. How many is a lot? Oh, I can't. You know, my lucky numbers are something that, you know, if you guys knew you could, you know, you guys could put me in a world of hurt. Okay. So I can't reveal. I can't play with the lucky numbers. But how many of your lucky numbers did you get out of like, you know what I mean? Six. Right, right, right. Was it like an amount that it's like, well, that could reasonably, if they put 15 numbers on the screen, I'm going to get some that are in my list of lucky numbers, you know?

27:11 Yep, yep. So I think that the, you know, the draw itself, right, of the numbers that it pulls from is actually pretty large. It's not just like zero through 10. I think it goes all the way up through... 99, I think. Not 90. Does it go up through 99? You get to decide what it goes up to. Yeah. Okay. Based on the state you're in, though, probably. No, you can decide independently of that also. Oh, interesting. Okay.

27:35 For some reason, when you change the state, it changes all your numbers. But then after you've set your state and amount of numbers, you can then use the D-pad left and right to change the minimum and up and down to change the maximum. So you can, like, theoretically narrow down the range to, like, exactly the number you want. It got enough of my numbers that I was suspicious. Okay. But, yeah, not just guessing 1 through 10. It must have at least been guessing 1 through 60. Wow. So one of my lucky numbers must be 60. No, that's where you're wrong.

28:15 Anyway, to keep moving along here, we, you know, the box does want you to know, though, on the back of it, no mystical or magical claims are guaranteed, which is fine, right? Like, nothing should be guaranteed in anything, right? Like, imagine if every psychic reader guaranteed that they were going to make you rich, everybody would just go to them. However, it also says that none of these can be inferred. And I thought that was strange. Isn't this whole thing? Yeah. To be inferred? I guess I don't know what they, yeah, what the word means in this context.

28:49 None of these can be inferred. Right? Sorry, can you say it again? It says, no mystical or magical claims are guaranteed or inferred. So you are doing the inferring, but not the game. The game is not inferring anything on you. Well, the game would be implying.

29:09 Right, right. But the game is, yeah, they didn't take a stance on whether they're implying or not. Right. But I just think it's funny that, you know, in a game that won't let 14-year-olds buy it, in a game that has a lot of, like, it doesn't do this, it doesn't do that, in a game that clearly states it's not a game, they are going out of their way to let you know that, like,

29:32 you have no grounds to sue us for the results of whatever happens. Well, I think it also, like, wants to make sure at one point in the manual that, like, we don't take responsibility for, like, what anyone does based on what, like, if something, if, you know, if someone said, someone's thing said, like, oh, your neighbor is going to kill you, they inferred that, and they killed their neighbor, and they're like, well, Taboo told me that they were going to kill me. Like, it's like, we're not responsible for any of that stuff.

29:57 I think it also, like, adds a lot to the mysticism of it, where it's like, it's just the medium, you know, it's like the, and you're the one who's, like, doing the work, but it's a tool in order to make, like, you feel powerful. Totally, yeah. Yeah, and especially putting stuff like that in the manual and making it feel like they are very serious about it probably adds to the whole, like, yeah, oh my god, this is serious. Yeah, that's the experience. They are officially writing this important notice that's got all this stuff in it that looks like it would be, like, the, like, the regular warnings on an NES cartridge about, like, not putting it on a chair or whatever they are. But this is, like, talking about the mystic arts. Oh, that's a deep cut. Yeah, you gotta go back through our library of episodes to know what I'm talking about with not putting a game on a chair.

30:56 If you're looking for more tarot card simulators on video games, you will have a hard time finding anything. Tarot mystery for Super Famicom, Japanese only, does exist, and I can only imagine how much better it is given that it now has 16 bits of processing power instead of 8.

31:18 But, you know, that's really all I could find otherwise in terms of, like, major home console tarot card simulators. Which begs the question of, like, why isn't this, like, a minigame in Grand Theft Auto or Yakuza? Like, you know, like, I feel like... I can see it in that context, yeah. It lends itself, right? Like, and then, like, that could actually affect stuff that happens to you in the game based on your readings, you know? Like, I could see that. But it didn't happen yet. GTA 6? Look for it in GTA 6 in 2048. Yeah. Well, I'm really interested in these readings that Joe and Sam received, and the only way we can find those out is if we find out whether Taboo, the sixth sense, is an essential game on our Essential Games list.

32:16 So, Sean, you and I are pretty boring. We didn't ask Taboo if it was going to be essential or not. But that's because we don't trust the machines. So, I will just tell you straight off the bat that I don't think any game that's not willing to call itself a game is an essential game. And for that reason, it's not on the Essential Games list for me. You know, this clearly, like, was on a cartridge, but it's not a video game. It would be like... You remember Game Boy Advance had, like, a time where you could watch, like, iCarly on the cartridges or SpongeBob SquarePants.

32:52 Those weren't games, so I wouldn't put them on an Essential Games list. I'm not going to do that for Taboo either, so that's my vote. Sean, how about you? I agree. I mean, this is very much an application. It's a program on an NES cartridge. And while I am a skeptic, I do think this stuff is fun.

33:12 You know, skeptic even when it comes from a person. I do think this stuff is cool. But even with that prerequisite, I have to make it a non-game, non-essential game. Okay, Sam, what was your reading? My reading was the Five of Swords, which I think is a negative reading. And Swords deals with conflict. And let me pull up the manual real quick.

33:49 Swords represents conflict, struggle, battling the odds, intellectual problems, and invention. So to me, that seems like it's the perfect suit to get when debating if this should be on the Essential Games list or not. Because it's a conflict. And this is like an intellectual conflict also. Because we're discussing if the game... Well, it's not a game, but if it has merit. You know, and in the reading, it said that the conflict will be from a... I think it's... I can't remember it exactly, but I think it said something like the conflict will be person-driven, someone who is malicious but weak. And I can't think of a better description for gamers.

34:53 Absolutely. So it's a conflict between malicious, weak people who are not going to put this on the Essential Games list. So it's not essential. The game predicted... Not the game. Taboo predicted itself not to be essential. And I think that holds strong. Very good. I like it. I like it a lot. Okay, Joe, what was your reading? All right, so it's going to be a long one here. Because I'm going to go through all ten of the cards. You have the floor. You have our attention. And just so everybody knows, I didn't ask, will it be essential? Because now we already know it's not. I asked, will I vote it essential?

35:41 Very good description. So number one. The first card, I got the Magician. Okay? Which apparently means, currently, I use my skills to accomplish my task. Now that makes me think that, we're talking about the Essential Games list. Normally, I use my skill of developing opinions. I don't usually use a tarot reading simulation to decide if something's going to be on the Essential Games list. Which is true. So, like, so far, it's off to a good start.

36:12 Second card, which is the Crossing card, is the Chariot. Now, this is supposed to represent, apparently, according to the manual, your existing obstacle. Okay? And it says, existing obstacle right now, possible travel. Okay? Yeah, possible travel or need to flee reality. And I took it as possible travel. Because the obstacle that we have been dealing with while recording this show is that we can't travel. Yep, we're separate now. We can't travel to be in person like we used to be.

36:44 So that might affect things. But, you know, so that's the current obstacle. Okay? Number three, which is the crowning card, is the card of staffs. Which is, I guess, what is now attainable to me at this time. And it says, attainable at this time is strength in the establishment. And I took that to mean that, like, you know, now, after, what are we, on 180-some episodes?

37:07 We are an established enough podcast. I feel much more comfortable. I go with my gut more. You know, I'm more comfortable making these essential games list votes. Our opinions carry weight. Does it feel like I'm doing mental gymnastics at all? No, no, no. This is great. Our opinions carry weight in video games and to weak, malicious gamers. Right. Exactly, yes. Number four, which, with number four, I got the five of swords. And this is supposed to be for the base of the matter. The five of swords, and that apparently means influences of the distant past are malicious but weak person.

37:45 I don't really know exactly what that's trying to say. That's gamers. That's talking about gamers. That's the card I got. But I took it to mean that the influences from the distant past that are malicious and weak are referencing the fact that I've been burned before my distant past on the essential votes. Sometimes when it's when I regret my vote with Slalom and Excitebike regretted it. Other times it's when I feel I've been betrayed when some people didn't put Zelda 2 on the essential games list. So I'm a weak and malicious person. I didn't say that. I didn't use any names deliberately.

38:24 Number five is the four of staffs. And that is supposed to be my past influences, which sounds actually similar to the last one. But my past influences, it says, previous influences exerting pressure are perfection. So I'm not exactly sure how to read that one either, but I'm taking it to mean that trying to make the essential games list perfect has caused a lot of contention in the past. It prevents us from putting games on. That's true. That are not perfect. You know, like. Yeah. And it's had some contention with like spy versus spy. We're like, well, that game's not perfect, but we want to take it off. You know, it's caused contention.

39:07 Then finally, what are we on? Six here? Probably. Six is the five of staffs, which says the near forthcoming influence is unsatisfied desire. Ooh. So I could, I know that I could regret not putting taboo on the essential games list. And that is something that bothers me. I don't want to have those regrets anymore like I've had in the past.

39:33 Number seven, I got, this is taking a long time. No, no, no. We're loving it. Knock it off. Number seven, I got the Ace of Swords. Currently, you feel prosperity and success. And you know, I do feel good about opening up some people to games that might not have, that might have been viewed as imperfect, like spy versus spy. I think we got at least one person wrote to us and said like, yeah, I, you know, I wouldn't have seen spy versus spy if it wasn't on the essential games list.

40:04 Number eight, the sun. Others view you as an accomplishment or general contentment with life. I think that's trying to say others view you as someone who has made an accomplishment. I don't know. But I'm saying same thing. We had one person write to us and say, thanks for putting spy versus spy on the list. So I think that that's what that's talking about.

40:27 Number nine, which is the hopes and fears section. The card I drew was two of staffs. Your secret fears or wants are influence over others. Which I guess is saying that secretly, I want to make sure that I keep the influence to keep games like spy versus spy on. Even though I fear it's going to come off one day because I know that people are coming for it. Also, I want to be able to influence you guys to change your mind about Zelda 2. Which brings me to my final card. The 10th card, which I drew the 10 of cups.

41:03 And the 10 of cups is the culmination of the events revealed before will be petty family disputes or opposition. And what I took that to mean is that me putting this game on the essential games list will cause an uproar. And probably plenty of disputes among my nostalgia family and the listeners who I consider family. So I think that this reading is telling me that I need to vote this essential.

41:34 However, I am not a servant of destiny. And I think that we create our own destiny. And I am going to defy. I'm going to defy my destiny. And I am going to not vote this essential. It does say you can do that. Yeah. And I want to take that agency. Yeah. Joe, masterfully crafted. However, funny that you defy destiny to then just agree with us like a sheep. Well, you guys aren't destiny. You guys are just other people with other individual opinions.

42:15 I want to add something before we finish up. And that's that I Joe. Well, I want to ask Joe first. Have you ever done a tarot reading before? I have not. Right. But I am. I guess I'd also say I'm a skeptic. Open minded. If someone could give me evidence. But I'm generally a skeptic on that kind of thing. But you just gave us. You did it. Really nice. Really fun interpretation of your question. And even though the question was not really about anything. It's very mundane. Serious in the context of your of your life.

42:49 Not that this isn't a serious thing that we do. But you were still able to handle it very masterfully. And I think that that's a testament to how good of a tarot. Like an emulation of tarot this is. Where it gives you enough information that you can. You know, you don't need any other resources. Except for the manual and the game. Not the game. I don't know what to call it. The application. It's funny. Yeah. I'll call it the game.

43:24 You just need the manual in the game. To get an understanding of what it takes. To do this. And to. That's like. You know. Whereas if you just had the tarot cards. It's a lot harder to do on your own. And this is the only time that I've felt. Like doing tarot readings. Is approachable to someone who has no experience with it.

43:50 Yeah. I absolutely agree. Sam. I mean. Like Mike said earlier. Like whether you believe in this stuff or not. This. This did what it set out to do. And it made. I mean. As far as I know. Like it made. A simulation of tarot cards. That like functions. And then. Yeah. And then add some. By giving you the knowledge. And the information. The information to do it. So like. You know. You don't need to. To buy into it. To see that like.

44:15 They. Someone was passionate about making a simulation of this. And they succeeded. Yeah. So. While it's not. Like. Super Mario Brothers or anything. I think that this game is. Really. Effective. And what it set out to do. And that if you. Are. Interested in tarot. Or you want to give it a shot. I think that this is a great. Way. To do that. And I think it's really approachable.

44:45 Um. So I just wanted to say that. Yeah. I would just argue that like. You know. We've. We've come like. 30 years from this now. Not 30. Quite. Actually. Maybe. Yeah. 30 something years from this. And. I can't. I couldn't do math for a second. And I'm sure there are better simulators out there. But like. That's the whole point. Is like. Why simulation is so cool. And why this genre is so cool of stuff. Is that it's important to always see this. Because. I mentioned earlier. That I thought this was like. Like really.

45:10 Well done. For the time. And everything like that. But. This is also the best way to learn this stuff. I can't imagine. You know. When I went into this. I had no idea what tarot cards were. Or what they meant. Or anything like that. And the manual really helps you. But also just like. The game itself. Really spells it out for you. And there are things like that today. On the Switch. There's this game called Clubhouse 51. Which has like. 51.

45:32 Games that you could totally play. Like. You know. With a deck of cards. Or. You know. In your house. Or whatever. But. They have it. Where it's fully simulated for you. And you can learn at your own pace. And thing. And I feel like that's really important. To just have as a resource. So. Yeah. I agree with that. I would just say. I'm not sure if this. 8-bit NES version. Of a tarot card simulation. Is like the best place to start. I'm sure. There are now resources online. That could give you better. Automated readings. I mean. I'm sure. But. I think that this is still. A really great way of doing it.

46:06 Rare's always trying something different. Right? Who expected this? We didn't. I didn't expect this. Yeah. This was not expected at all. Yeah. Anyway. That has been all the time we have for this episode of Nostalgia. I don't even think I know what next week's game is. But I bet Taboo did. So. If you want to find out what next week's episode of Nostalgia is. Why don't you buy a copy of Taboo the Sixth Sense on eBay. Hopefully in its velvet case. So that its integrity is still intact. Yeah. And then ask it. What is the game that Nostalgia will be playing next week? And you know you won't get an answer. Because you have to ask a yes or no question for the most part. However. You can always find out what we're playing.

46:47 The week. Next week. The week after that. The week before that. Because we posted on Twitter. That's right. This whole thing was just a shameless Twitter plug. Because one of our pinned posts tells you the next four games. That we are going to be playing. Forget what we're playing next week. Imagine what we're going to be playing in three weeks. You could see all that information on the Twitter. At NostalgiaCast. And that's what makes it so cool. But wait. There's more. We're posting images. We're asking questions. We're interacting with fans. Come there. Hang out with us. Give us a little follow button. And then you know. Maybe say we're cool guys to hang out with.

47:23 I don't know. Give it a try. See how it feels. You don't have to hit send. I'm Michael Esposito. You can follow me. At Esposito Film. On Twitter. And I'll talk to you soon.

47:54 I'm Michael Esposito.