Electronic Wireless Show podcast episode 173: the best MacGuffins in games special
Throw me the egg!
Inspired by how much Matthew made me laugh with his withering assessment of the MacGuffin in the film Red Notice being an egg, this week the Electronic Wireless Show podcast is all MacGuffin, all the time. We discuss some of our favourite examples of the plote device in question to be found in video games, which of course leads to some interesting discussions about what even is a MacGuffin. Can a MacGuffin be intangible? No, probably not.
We discuss whether any MacGuffin is improved by replacing it with an egg (yes), why a lot of games have souls as MacGuffins, and what our own personal MacGuffins would be. Plus! Impressions of Henry "Vitamin H" Cavill, and sensational new character Sir Terence Plunder. Will Sir T become a podcast regular? Only time will tell. There is no Cavern Of Lies this week, but in a shocking turn of events it's because Nate forgot, not because I forgot. Hooray!
You can listen above, or on on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, or Pocket Casts. You can find the RSS feed here, and you can discuss the episode on our Discord channel, which has a dedicated room for podcast chat.
Music is by Jack de Quidt.
Links
Souls, and the acquisition of souls, is a big deal in a lot of games (including the upcoming Total War: Warhammer 3) and things like Death's Door.
Diablo II is a game of nesting MacGuffins. Resident Evil should be renamed MacGuffin Mansion.
Assassin's Creed has a confusing number of aliens-from-the-past MacGuffins called things like The Apple.
In the Tomb Raider series there are many MacGuffins, although Lara's attitude to them changes over time.
Dragon Age II has a bait and switch MacGuffin.
Red Dead Redemption 2 has a $150,000 MacGuffin, and, similarly, in GTAV you just have to make a load of money, which is a nice, clear motivation.
In Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines the MacGuffin is a sarcophagus with an explosive surprise.
Recommendations this week are The Beast Must Die TV show (which is unfortunately on BritBox), The Tinder Swindler true crime documentary on Netflix, and The Budget Museum YouTube channel.