A Chapter Select Season 5 Update

Hello everybody! I have a quick update for Chapter Select and the Season 5 finale.

I have to delay the episode. My wife and I just bought a house and this move has been more demanding than I anticipated. The episode has been recorded, but I do not have the 4-5 hours to edit, produce, and publish the finale before Wednesday, May 31.¹

My office is just a big ol’ pile in the garage. My iMac is in its box. I don’t know when I’ll get to setting up my desk. It should be soonish on the list, since I do primarily work from home. Once my computer is plugged in, I know I can wake up early a couple of days and knock the edit out.

I am disappointed I couldn’t get this done in time. I hate delaying a publicly promised project. Consistency is the key to growth and trust. I ran out of time. I am sorry I dropped the ball right at the finish line.

Thankfully, Logan and I have now both moved within the last year, so major geographical events should be behind us. Plus, Season 6 is already half way done. 😉

Thank you all for your understanding and patience. I promise I will get to editing as soon as I can. Also, how hype was that Resident Evil 4 VR Mode teaser. Bring on the VR games!

1. Heck, I’m writing and posting this from my phone so late because I am too tired to keep clean and unpack.

Chapter Select: Season 5, Episode 10 – Resident Evil 6

Episode art generated by DALL-E 2 with the following prompt written by Max Roberts & Logan Moore - "A plane crashing over a burning, overrun city in China with hues of purple at night in a diorama style." — Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts & Logan Moore

The gang is finally all together in this ensemble co-op campaign smash up. Max Roberts and Logan Moore carry each other as they slog through this globetrotting adventure. It’s Raccoon City all over again and that may not be a good thing.

Download (45MB) — Episode Transcript

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Resident Evil 6

Developer – Capcom
Platforms – PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch
Release Date – October 2, 2012
Game Directors – Eiichiro Sasaki
Producers – Yoshiaki Hirabayashi
Composer – Akihiko Narita

Metacritic – 74/100

Links

This episode was originally recorded on May 12, 2023.

@ChapterSelect

Max’s Twitter @MaxRoberts143

Logan’s Twitter @MooreMan12

Researcher, Editor, and Producer – Max Roberts

Hosted by Logan Moore & Max Roberts

Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts & Logan Moore.

Chapter Select: Season 5, Episode 9 – Resident Evil 5

Episode art generated by DALL-E 2 with the following prompt written by Max Roberts - "A cave with a small hill in the center filled with blood orange colored flowers illuminated by an opening in the ceiling above in a diorama style." — Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts

Time to step out of the standard definition darkness into the HD light! Co-op partners Max Roberts and Logan Moore head to Africa to fight off the emergence of bio-weapon threats and find an old friend. Along the way, they ask themselves the all-important question: What really is Resident Evil?

Download (48MB) — Episode Transcript

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Resident Evil 5

Developer – Capcom
Platforms – PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Release Date – March 5, 2009
Game Directors – Yasuhiro Anpo and Kenichi Ueda
Producers – Jun Takeuchi and Masachika Kawata
Composer – Kota Suzuki

Metacritic – 84/100 (Lost in Nightmares 81/100) (Desperate Escape 73/100)

Links

This episode was originally recorded on April 14, 2023.

@ChapterSelect

Max’s Twitter @MaxRoberts143

Logan’s Twitter @MooreMan12

Researcher, Editor, and Producer – Max Roberts

Hosted by Logan Moore & Max Roberts

Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts.

Chapter Select: Season 5, Episode 8 – Resident Evil Village

Episode art generated by DALL-E 2 with the following prompt written by Max Roberts - "Resident Evil 8 Castle Dimitrescu with spires sprawling in the cold mountainside of Eastern Europe diorama horror vampire." — Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts

Lycans and gentlemen! Village locals Max Roberts, Logan Moore, and special guest Michael Ruiz, run around town trying to put a baby back together. Was RE8 able to recapture the magic of previous entries or should Capcom have left the vampires and werewolves to Konami?

Download (51MB) — Episode Transcript

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Resident Evil Village

Developer – Capcom
Platforms – PlayStation 4/5, PS VR2, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Stadia, PC, and macOS
Release Date – May 7, 2021
Game Director – Morimasa Sato
Producers – Tsuyoshi Kanda, Peter Fabiano, and Masachika Kawata
Composer – Shusaku Uchiyama

Metacritic – 84/100 (PS VR2 – 82/100)

Links

This episode was originally recorded on April 10, 2023.

@ChapterSelect

Max’s Twitter @MaxRoberts143

Logan’s Twitter @MooreMan12

Michael’s Twitter @TheMichaelJRuiz

Researcher, Editor, and Producer – Max Roberts

Hosted by Logan Moore & Max Roberts

Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts.

Chapter Select Transcriptions for Every Episode

Hello everybody! I wanted to provide a small update on Chapter Select. With the start of Season 5: Resident Evil, we began offering episode transcriptions. I’ll share more about the process of making those transcriptions in the seasonal behind the scenes post, but it has gone so well that I went back and did it for the entire back catalog of Chapter Select.

Every episode now has a link to a PDF transcript of that specific episode. These links will be added to the show notes in your podcast app soon, but here on Max Frequency, all the requisite links are up. My desire behind this initiative is trying to help our audience as best I can. I hope these do help in some way.

Chapter Select: Season 5, Episode 7 – Resident Evil – Code: Veronica X

Episode art generated by DALL-E 2 with the following prompt written by Max Roberts - "Resident Evil Code Veronica German Palace surrounded by a military installation and a submarine in the distance located in Antarctica at night diorama." — Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts

The ghost of horrors past returns. Max Roberts and Logan Moore plan their escape from the icy tundra while figuring out if classic Resident Evil can evolve into its final form. Does this arctic adventure deserve a remake or should it be cast off like a bad dream?

Download (39MB) — Episode Transcript

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Resident Evil – Code: Veronica X

Developer – Flagship, Nextech, XAX Entertainment, Capcom Production Studio 4, and a tiny bit of Sega
Platforms – Dreamcast, PS2, GameCube, PS3, and Xbox 360
Release Date – February 3, 2000
Game Director – Hiroki Kato
Producer – Shinji Mikami
Composers – Takeshi Miura, Hijiri Anze, and Sanae Kasahara

Metacritic – 94/100 on Dreamcast (84/100 on PS2 — 62/100 on GameCube)

Links

This episode was originally recorded on March 17, 2023.

@ChapterSelect

Max’s Twitter @MaxRoberts143

Logan’s Twitter @MooreMan12

Researcher, Editor, and Producer – Max Roberts

Hosted by Logan Moore & Max Roberts

Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts.

Chapter Select: Season 5, Episode 6 – Resident Evil 3

Episode art generated by DALL-E 2 with the following prompt written by Max Roberts - "Resident Evil 3 Tyrant chasing Jill Valentine in a fiery Racoon City diorama at night" — Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts

It is the end of an era. Max Roberts and Logan Moore say so long to the city they’ve called home for the first half of this season. Has Capcom’s relentless pursuit of sales delivered another smash hit or does Resident Evil 3: Nemesis belong in a body bag?

Download (39MB) — Episode Transcript

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Resident Evil 3

Developer – Capcom
Platforms – PlayStation, Dreamcast, GameCube, PC
- Remake – PS4/X1, PC, Switch (Cloud), PS5/XS
Release Dates – November 11, 1999 and April 3, 2020
Game Director – Kazuhiro Aoyama
- Remake Director – Kiyohiko Sakata
Producer – Shinji Mikami
- Remake Producers – Masachika Kawata and Peter Fabiano
Composers – Masami Ueda and Saori Maeda
- Remake Composers – Masami Ueda, Kota Suzuki, Takayasu Sodeoka, and Azusa Kato

Metacritic – 91/100 and 79–84/100

Chapter Select: Season 5, Episode 5 – Resident Evil 4

Episode art generated by DALL-E 2 with the following prompt written by Max Roberts - "A gothic castle hidden away in the Spanish country side near a lake and surrounded by a dead forest at night dimly illuminated by torches diorama" — Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts

The reinvention of Capcom’s horror series begins! Los Illuminados members Max Roberts, Logan Moore, and special guest Dustin Furman embrace the Las Plagas to find out if Leon’s mission to the Spanish countryside is all it’s cracked up to be. Can saving the President’s daughter really make for the best Resident Evil game ever made?

Download (52MB) — Episode Transcript

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Resident Evil 4

Developer – Capcom (Armature for RE4VR)
Platforms – GameCube, PS2, PC, Wii, iOS, PS3/360, PS4/X1/Switch, Quest 2
Release Date – January 11, 2005 (RE4VR was Oct 21, 2021)
Game Director – Shinji Mikami
Producer – Hiroyuki Kobayashi
Composer – Misao Senbongi

Metacritic – 96/100 (85/100 for RE4VR)

Links

This episode was originally recorded on November 1, 2022.

@ChapterSelect

Max’s Twitter @MaxRoberts143

Logan’s Twitter @MooreMan12

Dustin’s Twitter @DustinCanFly

Researcher, Editor, and Producer – Max Roberts

Hosted by Logan Moore & Max Roberts

Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts.

Chapter Select: Season 5, Episode 4 – Resident Evil 2

Episode art generated by DALL-E 2 with the following prompt written by Max Roberts & Logan Moore - "police station in the middle of a busy city at night where a semitruck flipped outside that is surrounded by zombies and fire diorama" — Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts & Logan Moore

Thud, thud, thud…Rookie cop Max Roberts and college dropout Logan Moore team up with motorcycle racer Ricky Frech to skulk around a disheveled police station. Did Capcom’s plan for bigger and better sequels pay off or did this adventure in Raccoon City bite off more than it can chew?

Download (46MB) — Episode Transcript

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Resident Evil 2

Developer – Capcom
Platforms – PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, GameCube, PC
- Remake – PS4/X1, PC, Switch (Cloud), PS5/XS
Release Dates – January 21, 1998 and January 25, 2019
Game Director – Hideki Kamiya
- Remake Directors – Kazunori Kadoi and Yasuhiro Anpo
Producer – Shinji Mikami
- Remake Producers – Yoshiaki Hirabayashi and Tsuyoshi Kanda
Composers – Masami Ueda, Shusaku Uchiyama, and Syun Nishigaki
- Remake Composers – Shusaku Uchiyama and Zhenlan Kang

Metacritic – 89/100 and 91/100

Chapter Select: Season 5, Episode 3 – Resident Evil 0

Episode art generated by DALL-E 2 with the following prompt written by Logan Moore - "destroyed train in an abandoned forest at night diorama" — Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Logan Moore

All aboard! Co-op duo Max Roberts and Logan Moore team up to exterminate pests and meet the founders of the Umbrella Corp in Resident Evil 0. Do the adventures of Rebecca and Billy chug along or does this prequel derail the origins of the series?

Download (33MB) — Episode Transcript

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Resident Evil 0

Developer – Capcom
Platforms – GameCube, PS3/360, PS4/X1/Switch
Release Date – November 12, 2002
Game Director – Koji Oda
Producer – Tatsuya Minami
Composer – Seiko Kobuchi

Metacritic – 83/100

Links

This episode was originally recorded on January 13, 2023.

@ChapterSelect

Max’s Twitter @MaxRoberts143

Logan’s Twitter @MooreMan12

Researcher, Editor, and Producer – Max Roberts

Hosted by Logan Moore & Max Roberts

Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Logan Moore.

Chapter Select: Season 5, Episode 2 – Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Episode art generated by DALL-E 2 with the following prompt written by Max Roberts - "Resident Evil 7 Baker House in louisiana swampland filled with junk and fungus diorama" — Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts

Fear takes on a whole new perspective in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Max Roberts and Logan Moore immerse themselves in the moldy Baker Estate to find out if Capcom’s gamble to reinvent the franchise – and the company – panned out. It’s time for Resident Evil to come home.

Download (42MB) — Episode Transcript

RSS Feed – Overcast – Apple Podcasts – Spotify – YouTube

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Developer – Capcom
Platforms – PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC (PS VR, PS5, XSX)
Release Date – March 24, 2017
Game Director – Koshi Nakanishi
Producers – Masachika Kawata and Tsuyoshi Kanda
Composers – Akiyuki Morimoto, Miwako Chinone, and Satoshi Hori

Metacritic – 86/100

Links

This episode was originally recorded on September 24, 2022.

@ChapterSelect

Max’s Twitter @MaxRoberts143

Logan’s Twitter @MooreMan12

Researcher, Editor, and Producer – Max Roberts

Hosted by Logan Moore & Max Roberts

Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts.

Chapter Select: Season 5, Episode 1 – Resident Evil

Episode art generated by DALL-E 2 with the following prompt written by Max Roberts - "Resident Evil 1 Spencer Mansion surrounded by a haunted forest diorama at night time horror" — Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts

It’s time to turn out the lights and lock the door. S.T.A.R.S Agents Max Roberts and Logan Moore creep through the Spencer Mansion to explore where Resident Evil began. Do ink ribbons and static cameras still hold up or has survival horror outgrown its restricted roots?

Download (38MB) — Episode Transcript

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Resident Evil

Developer – Capcom
Platforms – PlayStation (PC, Saturn, and Nintendo DS; Remade on GameCube)
Release Date – March 22, 1996 (PS1)
- March 22, 2002 for GameCube
- February 7, 2006 for Deadly Silence (Nintendo DS)
Game Director – Shinji Mikami
Producers – Tokuro Fujiwara and Masayuki Akahori
Composer – Makoto Tomozawa, Koichi Hiroki, and Masami Ueda

Metacritic – 91% (same for GameCube)

Links

This episode was originally recorded on August 30, 2022.

@ChapterSelect

Max’s Twitter @MaxRoberts143

Logan’s Twitter @MooreMan12

Researcher, Editor, and Producer – Max Roberts

Hosted by Logan Moore & Max Roberts

Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted by Max Roberts.

Behind the Scenes of Chapter Select Season 4 – The Fast & The Furious

Before diving into the Behind the Scenes for this season, I just wanted to make mention that now there is an audio version of this post now. With the show being designed with an audio first mentality and these Behind the Scenes getting longer, I thought recording myself reading the post would be helpful. If you would like to listen, the episode is right in the feed. I hope you enjoy!

Download (18MB)

It’s been a long season with you, the fans. And I’ll tell you all about it when the season comes to an end…

Which would be right now!

Welcome to the Behind the Scenes¹ for Chapter Select Season 4 – The Fast & The Furious. Our longest season to date gave us the opportunity to explore the evolution, design, and legacy of an entirely new form of media for the show. And with the seasonal pivot to film, new creative challenges revved up during our production.

Why movies? So we could play more games! We explained it in the Season 4 trailer; we wanted to tackle an ambitious Season 5 with Resident Evil. Instead of drowning in a ton of games, we took the opportunity to explore films, which have a far lower time commitment to consume.

The decision wasn’t all time focused. I have wanted Logan to watch the Fast films for years now. They are movies I knew would be in his wheelhouse. Having a fresh perspective on movies that I have seen countless times was just as exciting as waiting for Logan to finally witness iconic moments like dragging a safe through the city or a real deal street fight.

The challenge for us was shifting to a new subject matter. Logan and I almost exclusively podcast about video games. We have for almost eight years. Of course we talk about anything and everything under the sun off the microphone, but rarely have we discussed films on air.

Now Chapter Select‘s signature bouncing back and forth format was directly inspired by James Bonding, a podcast that did just that for James Bond. The format is quite adaptable to film—really any media. What we needed to discover was how would our personal dynamic play out on a show about movies?

It was fun to stretch these critical analysis muscles for film. Logan and I even watched a couple movies together, chatting along the way. We haven’t really played a game together yet for the show (although Resident Evil presents an opportunity for some co-op). The season from start to finish was a success. It was a blast! I wager we will return to Hollywood someday, but until then, it is time for a deep, rich dive behind the scenes of this season’s production.

Continue reading →

Chapter Select Season 5 is Resident Evil

Illustration generated by DALL-E 2, prompted and edited by Max Roberts

Welcome to Chapter Select Season Five!

Logan Moore brings Max Roberts under Capcom’s horror umbrella and guides him through this nightmarish franchise. Have over 25 years of innovation and reinvention turned this survival horror series into a husk of a corpse or kept gamers on the edge of their seats? Clear out your inventory. Turn off the lights.
It’s time for…Resident Evil!

Download (5MB) – Episode Transcript

Apple Podcasts – Overcast – RSS Feed – Spotify – YouTube

For the season’s structure, Logan and I sat down and custom-tailored the order for Resident Evil. Given the nature of RE-makes, we wove in old and new together based off platform accessibility. Here is the order we have for Season 5:

Episode 1 – Resident Evil (2002) is releasing on January 11, 2022.
Episode 2 – Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017) is releasing on January 25, 2023.
Episode 3 – Resident Evil 0 (2002) is releasing February 8, 2023.
Episode 4 – Resident Evil 2 Remake (2019) is releasing February 22, 2023 with special guest Ricky Frech.
Episode 5 – Resident Evil 4 (2004) is releasing on March 8, 2023 with special guest Dustin Furman.
Episode 6 – Resident Evil 3 Remake (2020) is releasing on March 22, 2022.
Episode 7 – Resident Evil – Code: Veronica X (2000) is releasing on April 5, 2023.
Episode 8 – Resident Evil Village (2021) is releasing on April 19, 2023 with special guest Michael Ruiz.
Episode 9 – Resident Evil 5 (2009) is releasing on May 3, 2023.
Episode 10 – Resident Evil 6 (2012) is releasing on May 17, 2023.
Episode 11 – Resident Evil 4 Remake (2023) is releasing on May 31, 2023.

I am fairly new to the Resident Evil franchise. I entered the fold with RE7 because of PSVR. When Village hit shelves, I snagged it thanks to expiring credits at Best Buy. I never went beyond dabbling with the series classics, although I have longed for the iconic chainsaw GameCube controller.

In contrast, Logan is a long-time S.T.A.R.S agent, originally getting into the series all on the GameCube. He claims that Resident Evil is up there with Metal Gear Solid.

All of the art this season was generated by the DALL-E 2 AI art generator. We felt there was something eerily ironic about a corporate AI mashing together existing creations for us about a game series where an evil corporation makes zombie bioweapons. You know I’ll be digging in deep to the how to in this season’s Behind the Scenes post later this year.

It’s time for you to make a Jill Sandwich, put on your headphones, and pack up some green herbs for Season 5: Resident Evil! The first episode will be launching next Wednesday – January 11, 2023 – with new episodes following in a fortnightly manner. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts!

Apple Podcasts – Castro – Overcast – Pocket Casts – RSS Feed – Spotify – YouTube

Chapter Select: Season 4, Episode 10 – F9

The thrilling finale of CS: The Fast Saga has arrived. Max Roberts and Logan Moore are at the end of their podcasting road trip through the Fast & Furious films. Does a never-before-mentioned brother help or hinder this blockbuster series?