Beat of the Month: Video Game Podcast

Arcade gaming - a staple of the youth of many gamers, and of the Beat of the Month crew! We take this episode to explore the arcade games we played when we were kids, what arcade experiences we've had lately, and discuss a bit on whether arcade gaming is still alive and kicking. We take a look at some newer arcade games that we've played this month including the new House of the Dead remake, TMNT Shredder's Revenge, and more! We also talk about some of the games of yesteryear that you can find at Galloping Ghost Arcade which the Beat of the Month crew recently took a visit to. So grab your tokens, count up your redemption tickets, and join us for another episode!

On this special episode of Beat of the Month we take a look at one of the most beloved consoles to ever be released: Dreamcast. Sega's final entry into the console market had an excellent game library, offered features and graphics which had never been seen before, continues to have a loyal fanbase over 20 years later, and was unfortunately very shortly lived. 

We interviewed a variety of people that each had a unique experience with the Dreamcast and covered topics from their launch experience, games they loved (and still love!), how they felt when Dreamcast was discontinued, and more. Our interviewees include:

SeannyFunco - FuncoLand employee during the launch of the Dreamcast. More stories from his time at FuncoLand can be found at https://seanpiotrowski.net/. We'll be looking to do an episode in the future focused on his time at FuncoLand!

Gavin - EB Games employee during the launch of the Dreamcast. Gavin has a podcast called Geeking off the Page which can be found on Spotify and other podcasting platforms. You can reach him at [email protected].

Seppo Helava - Script Programmer for Seaman. In addition to working on a number of different games he also worked on VR programs for stroke rehab and offers mentoring for people looking to enter the game industry. He's easy enough to find online since he's the only Seppo Helava in the world.

Derek Pascarella - He continues to bring unreleased games to the West with complete translations. All of his projects covered during this episode can be found at https://dreamcastforever.com

Chuck - He has amassed a complete collection of Dreamcast games. He can be found on gamefaqs as well as on ebay selling a variety of games under the name amcdc79.

If you enjoyed this episode, please check out our previous shows as well as drop us a note at [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!

Welcome to Mario Kart - and to Beat of the Month! The crew take a look at one of the most beloved spinoff franchises of all time - the Mario Kart series! 30 years ago the original SNES game was released and 30 years later it's still a lot of fun. How about all of the other games in the franchise? We run through our experiences with each game and whether we think they stand the test of time or if they should be sent back to last place with a blue shell. As always we've got some trivia and an extra dose of music since the soundtrack to these games are phenomenal - yes I used the word phenomenal!

If YOU have an idea for an episode or a question you would like to ask the Beat of the Month crew, please send us a note at [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!

We have a smaller crew this episode with just Bash, Brian, and Muff - but that doesn't mean less fun! We go over some random trivia questions (regardless of the insanity Muff says at the start of the episode, it's trivia) with a wide variety of topics such as best selling games and consoles, virtual reality, and more. We take our time and just have a general trip down memory lane or share our insights on each topic. We hope you enjoy, and we'll be back next episode with a more structured setup and larger crew.

For this episode the Beat of the Month crew run down their favorite cheat codes of all time! The familiar favorites are here - Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right...well you know what it is. How about IDKFA? 007 373 5963? Pause, Option, 1+3, B,A,9,A,9,A,*,Option,6,#,*,*,Option,2,Option? If you got that one, well, you're certifiably insane. And you'd be in good company! Muff takes the reigns for this episode again so you know it'll be a little crazy. 

Other highlights include NBA Jam, Goldeneye, and Mortal Kombat. Are fatalities cheat codes? Maybe not exactly, but as usual we play fast and loose with the rules here at Beat of the Month. As usual we round things out with some trivia where you can flex your knowledge - but don't cheat!

The Beat of the Month crew put down their controllers and pull out the popcorn for this episode focusing on video game movies! We run down a list of nearly 50 video game movies and share our thoughts on each one. There's some good, some bad, some really bad, and some terrible movies on this list. Regardless of the relatively low quality of most video game movies, it's still fun to reflect on all the poor choices we've made when visiting the theater. From Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within that nearly ruined Squaresoft to 'what were they thinking' House of the Dead, there's a lot to talk about! But hey, the new Sonic movies are pretty good, right? Still waiting on that Crazy Taxi film to come out though...

With Elden Ring still spinning in our systems, the Beat of the Month crew decide to embrace the entire genre of Fantasy Games! We start off the episode talking about, you guessed it, Elden Ring. We get into more details about what our current status is in the game but keep it fairly light in terms of spoilers. We also talk about a few other fantasy games such as Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom and Elemental Gearbolt. Then...we talk about Elden Ring some more. Then we have Fantasy Trivia! And then...a little more Elden Ring. It's a love/hate relationship for many of us with that game, but it's hard to put down!

There is an old saying of "Sex Sells", and the Beat of the Month Crew is cashing in with episode 69 - Erotic video games! We take a trip down memory lane with our first experiences on what games stole our digital virginity all the way through more modern titles with more polygonal pleasures. To be honest, 'erotic' might be a bit of a stretch for a lot of these games...pretty much any nudity is reason for a mention this episode. Hell, there doesn't even need to have been actual nudity; as young boys we had very vivid imaginations. So buckle up and we hope you enjoy the ride!

With the NCAA tournament going on we were inspired to have our own bracket for the best video game character ever! Entries were not only picked by the Beat of the Month crew, but we got many submissions from our listeners - so thank you! You'll see some of the familiar faces you would expect like Mario, Sonic, Link, and Kratos.  But we also have some characters you might not have expected such as Duck Hunt Dog, Jumbo Flapjack, Trouble Bruin, and Michael Vick. Surely these oddballs will get voted out the first round....right? Well maybe not! So please join us as we deliberate on who should stand alone as the greatest video game character ever!