MatPat's Game Lab

For the finale of Game Lab Season 1 I wanted us to go out in style…so I decided to SIEGE MY OWN CASTLE! Or at least, a castle I rented for a day. This was one of the most fun episodes to make in the entire series—I got to learn sword techniques, dress in historic armor and stab the Beard Bros. IN THE FACE! When you think about comparing these games to real life, you think about the weapons and the armor, but you DON’T think about the adrenaline, the fatigue, and the idea of complete strangers running at you with axes. It’s a lot more intense and a lot more dangerous than I ever anticipated! For the 360 video, we staged a castle defense with trained knights and Vikings that literally puts you in the middle of the battle.

Get ready for some good ol’ fashioned CHOCOBO RACING! Or, as close as I can get, when I traveled to the Arizona ostrich festival to hop on REAL racing ostriches. And these aren’t cute little chicks we’re talking about—these are gigantic, eight-foot, 40-miles-per-hour racing monsters! I got pecked, stepped-on, and bucked off for an entire day learning how to actually race these birds, then I took on some serious competition in an all out tournament. Learn what it means to “ride an ostrich like a football” and what happens when your bird decides they just don’t feel like finishing the race! Then, check everything out in 360 with a ride-along behind the scenes tour of the episode!

Over the years I’ve done a few theories on Metal Gear Solid, but my research has never involved real army vehicles, real guns, and REAL BOXES! For this episode I brought in a few friends to learn about Metal Gear Solid and real stealth tactics from a veteran and 12-year U.S. Navy Seal…who basically thinks we’re a bunch of gamer pansies. In our challenge we’ll find out just how stealthy we really are at trying to sneak into an actual military supply base in the middle of the night…I’ll give you a hint: not very stealthy. The 360 video to go along with this episode is a real-world reenactment of a Solid Snake stealth mission and it’s AWESOME. A HUGE thanks to Odom from the Warpzone, Austin the PeanutButter Gamer, and Katie Wilson for stealthing through this episode with me! I’d hide in a cardboard box with you guys any day of the week. Last but definitely not least, a huge wave of gratitude to our expert Jeramiah Dinnell and everyone who works with him in the military and armed forces. We were so honored to learn from you for this episode and gain an even stronger appreciation for the life-saving work you do every day.

When I wanted to bring Rocket League into the real world, I thought I would have to invent a new sport, but it turns out that REAL CAR SOCCER already exists and it’s AWESOME! In this episode of Game Lab I took along CaptainSparklez in my quest to master real-life Rocket League. I’m pretty sure we almost killed each other a few times out there on the track, but we walked away with an incredible appreciation for professional drivers, some pretty sweet trick-stunts of our own, and two utterly destroyed cars!