Middle Aged Gaming

If you want to stay on top of the food chain you need to adapt to survive. In the world of gaming it's no different and, like it or not, that mean some of our favorite franchises have had to get with the times and change things up on occasion. Crian, Phil, and Adam talk about some examples that they feel really exemplify this ability to evolve with the times to provide a better gaming experience.

Adam: Armored Core

With 23 games under its belt, this "build-a-mech" franchise must be doing something right. Like the shark, cockroach, and crocodile before it, however, not too much has changed on the surface. So how has it survived so long? Adam gives us a lecture on how advances in controller technology has allowed this game to not only grow and adapt, but thrive.

Phil: Grand Theft Auto

Starting as a humble top down shooter, this franchise has grown into a monolith of the gaming industry. How did it do that? By becoming half shooter, half RPG, half racer, half life simulator, and 200% awesome (see, that math adds up).

But like the panda, has all that success caused this franchise to become too fat and lazy to reproduce? Phil contemplates this question, and more.

Crian: XCOM

Yet another franchise that crawled out of the ooze way back in the 90's, this tactical squad based game has seen multiple divergent formats in its family tree. Some have worked, but others haven't quite taken root. Crian asks why this may be. What allows some franchises to thrive where others have withered and died?

Hey everyone. It’s me again but this time I really am supposed to be editing this episode. Today Adam couldn’t join us because he had some real-world things to take care of. Today I am joined by our new and popular hosts Antoine and Phil. The title of this week’s episode is: “Summer Blockbusters 2021”. It was recorded on June 1st, 2021. Summer is coming and there are usually some really hot games to look out for. You probably have your own list but in case you don’t, we have selected some games that we are looking forward to. I am going to be talking about a cute farm-sim called Hokko Life. Antoine is going to go back to his love of airships and talk about Black Skylands. Last Phil is going to end things talking about Dungeons and Dragons Dark Alliance. We conclude the show talking about the plans for the week and an exciting new topic for the podcast next week.

Gamess Covered Today:

1.   Hokko Life

2.   Black Skylands

3.   D&D Dark Alliance

Adam interviews the holder of several world record scores in the game Klax. But the rabbit hole goes even deeper as this particular guest has a special connection to the show. Who could it be and what is their relation? Guess you're just going to have to listen and find out.

Hi listeners and middle-aged gamers. Today’s episode was edited by Phil but the trailer and show notes have been penned by yours truly Crian. Today’s episode is entitled: “Expanding Gaming’s Horizons”. It was recorded on May 25th, 2021. Today Adam, Phil and Antoine talk about games that bring something in from outside. What that something is… is for you to listen to this episode to find out. Adam is going to talk about El-Shaddai. An interesting take on an action RPG which brings in story from an interesting place. Antoine talks about the famed Surviving Mars and its connections to the real world. Phil ends the show as usual talking about Star Trek: Bridge Crew (VR). We also talk about the VR industry and gaming in general. We end the show talking about the streaming schedule for the week as well as next week’s blockbuster episode.

Games Covered Today:

1.   El Shaddai ASCENSION OF THE METATRON

2.   Surviving Mars

3.   Star Trek Bridge Crew

Rush to the Epic store for their Mega Sale 2021, you won't be disapointed.

Sorry for the ransom bip sounds, not sure where they come from but I couldn't remove them.

Hi listeners. A quick note before we start the usual trailer. We recorded this using Zencastr which unfortunately didn’t allow us to save Antoine’s audio. So the audio quality for this episode is going to be less than stellar because we had to extract the audio from the video file and then edit with that. Anyway. Enough with the technical stuff. Today you came here to talk about MMO’s. That is the title of this week’s episode: “Making MMO’s Matter”. It was recorded on May 18th, 2021. Today Adam, Phil and Antoine look at MMO’s from different lenses. Antoine is going to compare the classes in Final Fantasy 14 and World of Warcraft. Adam is going to talk about the clash of cultures in a game like Black Desert Online. Lastly Phil is going to end the show talking about something we all love. Warhammer. He’s going to talk about the latest hot mobile MMO: Warhammer Odyssey and the existence of these kinds of games on mobile phones. We conclude the show talking about the plans for the week and an exciting new topic for the podcast next week.

MMO’s Covered Today:

1.   Final Fantasy 14

2.   World of Warcraft

3.   Black Desert Online

4.   Warhammer Odyssey

Today, Adam and Antoine will review different aspects of the Final Fantasy series.

As long time fan of the serie, we will look into topic such as favorite world, story, cast and much more.

Make sure to comment on our youtube and facebook page on what you like most in FF.

This week's episode sees our favorite duo become a trio as Middle Aged Gaming adds a new member to their party, Antoine.

Antoine and Adam give us two game reviews while Crian covers the news.

Antoine's Game

Skies of Arcadia

This game goes all the way back to the Dreamcast, but could later also be found on the Gamecube. Skies of Arcadia puts you in the pilot seat as the sky-pirate Vyse. With classic turned based combat and ship to ship engagements, this game does not skimp on the action. But, of course, it wouldn't be a pirate's life without the freedom to travel the world on a whim. Explore multiple nations and recruit allies to make your crew the best of the bunch.

This game is "Arrrrrrrrsome"!

Adam's Game

Wattam

Brought to you from the mad mind that gave us Katamari Damacy, Wattam is a fanciful game filled with bright colors, blocky shapes, and strange characters. With no threat of a game over or no possible way to lose, have fun experimenting and playing around with trees, toilets, lawnmowers, facial features, and much more as you kaboom your way to bringing back the family after a the apocalypse. And if that last sentence didn't make sense to you, you understood it perfectly.

Crian's News

Sony recently worked out a deal with Discord to incorporate the chat platform into their PlayStation consoles. Why was this necessary and what can we expect in the future is anyone's guess.

After announcing that they'd be reducing their cut on games from their store on the PC, Microsoft explored reducing their cut of games on the XBox, but then later decided not to. Crian, Antoine, and Adam have their theories why. Do you agree with their assessments?

Following up on the last article, Crian poses the question, how can game companies keep up the recent momentum in growth that games have seen since the beginning of the recent pandemic?

Feel free to leave any of your thoughts and comments on any of our social media pages.

Hi listeners… How are you? How’s your week been going? What have you been playing? Do you want to tell us… well you know what to do, drop us a line on social media or come and join our discord server. This episode was recorded on April 27th 2021. Today we are going to talk about the two games Adam finished. Mainly Haven and Children of Zodiarcs. Then we move onto some breaking news about Sony’s game streaming ambitions. We follow that train for a bit before the ending of the show on some housekeeping. We talk about what has been happening behind the scenes the past few months, plans for the future as well as additions to the MAG team. If you have any thoughts, questions or comments, please don’t forget to send us a message on social media. We’d love to hear from you and promise to write back to every single one of you. Now, get ready for the show!

Topics Covered Today:

1.   Haven

2.   Children of Zodiarcs

3.   Sony’s Streaming Ambitions

4.   The future of Middle Aged Gaming

Free Epic games - Deponia / Pillars of the Earth / First tree