Thanks, Odama, for this episode of GameCube Prison

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Welcome to GameCube Prison, the first season of a new regular video series looking back on console-exclusive games trapped behind technological bars. In this episode, we try to figure out what the hell is going on in Odama.

Born from the same creator as Seaman, the GameCube-exclusive Odama is an eccentric what-if scenario rooted in feudal Japan: As in, what if the battlefield was also a gigantic pinball table? With historical accuracy crushed beneath a giant sphere, we try to embrace Odama unapologetically for its imagination, humor and crushing difficulty. Will there ever be anything like this again?

Ludwig Kietzmann is a veteran video game journalist and former U.S. Editor-in-Chief for GamesRadar+. Before he held that position, Ludwig worked for sites like Engadget and Joystiq, helping to craft news and feature coverage. Ludwig left journalism behind in 2016 and is now an editorial director at Assembly Media, helping to oversee editorial strategy and media relations for Xbox.