Stranger Things
Summary
Stranger Thingsstar Gaten Matarazzo has been meddlesome outside his work on the show , including a partnership with Nintendo that began last year . The actor , who plays Dustin Henderson in the sci - fi horror series , is also a almost life - long video games sports fan . Now that the SAG - AFTRA strike has ended , filming is design to quickly resume forStranger Things , but Matarazzo is still finding time to relish games with his family as the holiday approach .
Not much is make out about the fifth andfinal season ofStranger Things , but it ’s slated to be a classic oddment for the long - running Netflix series . Matarazzo is an experient actor outside of his role of Dustin , first begin his career star in appearance likeGodspell , and most recently taking up the role of Toby inSweeny Toddon Broadway . The thespian ’s quislingism with Nintendo first start in 2022 , and since then he ’s showcased his love life for the marque by elevate recent titles likeSplatoon 3andThe Legend of Zelda : Tears of the Kingdom .
covert Rantinterviewed Gaten Matarazzo to talk about his history with gaming , how he would contrive his ideal Nintendo Switch statute title , and what fans can carry from the final season ofStranger thing .
Gaten Matarazzo Talks Gaming & Nintendo
Screen Rant : I would love to hear just a short flake about your personal history with play . Have you always know it ?
Gaten Matarazzo : Heck yeah . It started when I was a quite a little young . My mum did n’t quite like it very much . She did n’t like violent game , and she was like , " It rots your head . " And then the Wii total out , and then she was like , " Oh , this is fun . " And it turned her to the dark side .
So it just started from there . It became a family thing , and she was like , " It ’s ok if it ’s for crime syndicate soldering . " And then it just mature from there , and there was no going back , for certain .
The nominees for Game of the Year at the Game Award just came out recently ; I ’m funny what your personal games of the year would be ?
Gaten Matarazzo : Well , this year was Legend of Zelda : Tears of the Kingdom , for certain . For me , that was an absolute no - brainer I cerebrate , because following up after Legend of Zelda : breather of the Wild , I conceive it was unmortgaged . It ’s like , okay , cool , that was the sick bar that one could set .
That was arguably one of the best video games of all time . And then , when Nintendo decided to expound on it full , and go at the same creation building , and same railway locomotive , and then just expand off of it , and succeed through the ceiling . ab initio , people were like , " Oh , it ’s just DLC , " and then you have an absolute blow - it - out - of - the - water expanding upon . It ’s insubstantial . I consider , for me , that ’s the no - brainer . Even though it ’s a toughened yr , it ’s a stacked twelvemonth .
Yeah . All the nominees except for one are continuation , which I think is really interesting .
Gaten Matarazzo : Whoa , yeah , that is interesting . I mean , I cerebrate that that ’s not surprising to me . A portion of those , their originals were up for Game of the Year before , and when you enlarge on something multitude sleep with so much , and you get it right . I guess I ’m just glad that all of them have gotten that sequel right , which is great .
If you were to design your idealStranger Thingsgame , what would that look like ?
Gaten Matarazzo : It would have to be an eight bit . It would have to be themed after the fourth dimension period , I think , which is credibly easier to do . But there ’s also a part of me that would sleep with a really cool DnD - stylus RPG .
Oh , that ’d be fun , like aBaldur ’s Gatething almost .
Gaten Matarazzo : Something like that . I consider it would be really cool . I reckon it could work pretty well . I mean , I think they ’ve tried to do some nerveless stuff before . I would really love to see them really nail one .
Yeah . I think a point - and - snap whodunit kind of position could solve well , as well .
Gaten Matarazzo : What ’s crazy is that one was in development , and then it fell through .
Dang , that would ’ve been so coolheaded .
Gaten Matarazzo : Yeah , that was demented . That was during the whole revealing situation , so that was banana .
In general , if you were just designing your idealistic Switch game , what would that attend like ? What sort of musical style do you find like you would gravitate to for that ?
Gaten Matarazzo : I think I ’d like a really cool - they ’re so good at party games , and just group - oriented gaming in general , which I think is really , really fun . But I think that a multiplayer secret plan , like Nintendo Switch Sports or Mario Party or something like that , but for people who are gamers ; the miniskirt - games are really , really challenging . Something like that would be a lot of fun , because I ’m very bad at it . I seek to play Super Smash Brothers , and I ’m perfectly refuse at that game . But it ’s still so much play .
Like theDark Soulsof party game .
Gaten Matarazzo : Something that really make people not want to be at that political party anymore . [ Laughs ]
I know this twelvemonth you have a portion of plans to give games to your friends and syndicate and that sort of thing , and a lot of that is - I assume - tie in with your love of these multiplayer experiences that you could have with your phratry and friends .
Gaten Matarazzo : For certain .
Are there any memories of doing that throughout your life that really stick out to you that make it a genre that you hump so much ?
Gaten Matarazzo : Yeah , I think so . I mean , I think for most hoi polloi , that case of bring the crime syndicate into play in general , that set about with Nintendo . That starts with the Wii ; it was revolutionary . I think there ’s just not a family in the world that does n’t have a remembering about bowl with their home in Wii Sports for the first meter , and absolutely losing their minds over it . So yeah , it ’s got to be Wii Sports . I think for most people though , it get with the Wii in the beginning , and it just fly off the ledge .
I have one particular memory on a sure Thanksgiving , where my grandad , who was playing that for the first time , was two strike away from a perfect plot , then shove along it .
Are there any upcoming game that you ’re really looking forward to ?
Gaten Matarazzo : Yeah , for indisputable . I opine right now the no - brainer is Super Mario Brothers Wonder , for sure . It ’s cool to see them go back to form for those really crazy - I have in mind , that ’s where Mario started , was that format .
And to see how much it ’s lucubrate is absolutely unbelievable . And to see it in a unexampled human beings , in the Flower Kingdom now , which is really brainsick . And what Nintendo is so good at , I think is - like I say - making really challenging poppycock and really fun for experienced people , but also comfort new players into it .
What I think is cool is that if you toy as Yoshi , Yoshi does n’t take harm . So it ’ll be great for little kids and hoi polloi who are just endeavor to have some playfulness to do it , I recollect . But they ’re so undecomposed at just taking what works and then sharpen that , and then just expand upon it . And it seems like everything they throw at the rampart just seems to stick , and they ’ve always killed it .
Yeah , definitely . Are there any games you have in thinker this gift giving season that you plan on cave in out ?
Gaten Matarazzo : Well , that ’s believably one of them , for certain . There ’s a couple of friends of mine who have not played Legend of Zelda : Tears of the Kingdom , which I think is absolutely bonkers to me , considering it ’s been out for almost , what is it , six months now ?
Yeah .
Gaten Matarazzo : Yeah . So that ’s in all probability one .
You talked a little about your chronicle with Nintendo in cosmopolitan , but , over the age , are there Nintendo titles that stick out to you as particularly influential or of import besidesWii SportsandTears of the Kingdom ?
Gaten Matarazzo : That ’s a good one . What got me obsessed with Nintendo in general , I mean , of course I have it away I ’ve talked about all the time , but it was Zelda and it still is , and that ’s the one that just keep me possessed with it , and keep me a gamer for so long .
But , it ’s just Mario Kart for the most part . I sleep with it ’s just one of the classic . But I spend so much time - I fuck very few people who spend their time play Mario Kart by themselves , but I was one of those people , and I get scarily good at it and developed this sexual love . And now I ’m good at it to the point where multitude do n’t care playing with me , which I retrieve is a keen flex .
Who do you drive as inMario Kart ?
Gaten Matarazzo : I drive as Link , if not Link then Yoshi . And really , those are both two for Super Smash Brothers as well , Link and Yoshi . People slumber on Yoshi in that game . Yoshi is nasty . [ Laughs ] He is and people do n’t speak about it . I want a gatekeep it , but I have to lease it be know .
And of course , before I go , I ’d be remiss if I did n’t necessitate , now that the strike is over if there ’s any windowpane you may give devotee into what they can wait from the net season of Stranger thing ?
Gaten Matarazzo : I would love for it to pick up as soon as possible . I think everybody is just really , really be intimate that thing have cleared up and that the unions come to a deal . It ’s been a with child class for unions in general , and now we ’re stoked to hopefully commence the unconscious process of getting back into it . It ’s hard , deal the oddment of the twelvemonth ’s coming and buffer season ’s come up , so programming is going to be hard for sure . But I ’m stoke to see when they do it and I ’m unquiet to get back into it whenever they decide to .
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