Press Pause Radio

Being told that you’re not good enough to do something sucks; there’s no “if’s”, “and’s”, or “but’s” about it—it’s an incredibly damaging thing to hear, and an even shittier thing to say.

Yet, even though it’s a topic that’s been discussed ad nauseam, it’s still a conversation that the industry and culture of Video Games is struggles with in terms of a mutual resolution that could benefit all parties. To be clear; scaling the difficulty of a game’s challenge in the interest of accessibility has not, and never will, dilute the appeal of game’s charm, or the intended experience—at least when it comes to example of what a GOOD game is anyway.

So why is it that developers like From Software feel the need to clutch at their pearls, and dismiss any discourse surrounding the inclusion of “easy mode” as a misunderstanding of their design fundamentals? Why is it that in the year 2019 that Microsoft is the only leading force behind a customizable controller that can be configured to accommodate a large number of physical impairments for the differently abled? Bizarrely enough, why we still seeing developers throw up flashing epilepsy warnings for their title as it were some sort of backhanded slap to those who’re affected by this debilitating condition?

Join us Press Pause Radio for this important episode as we talk at length about the state of accessibility for player difficulty, and why the demographic for video games can’t just be aimed at the kid who can snipe posers with 360°-No-Scope action. We talk about Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, The Division 2, Geppy X, Yoshi’s Crafted World, the Next-Generation Sony console, the NEC Super-Grafx console, Astroneers, Mortal Kombat 11, Raiden, the frightening concept of the Easter Bunny, and more!

Mail us at our new email [email protected], leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

As far as years for Video Games go, 2018 wasn’t that bad. For starters, the distribution landscape received a culture shock with the innovative premise of Xbox Gamespass, Sony landed some truly blockbuster exclusives for the PlayStation 4, and Nintendo managed to plant a Switch in over 22.86 Million households since its launch.

2018 wasn’t the best year for a God awful lot of reasons, but we can all take solace in the fact that at least in terms of video games, it did pretty OK, and  we would love to celebrate that that.

And what better way to do that by bringing you our trademark Game of the Year podcast, The Golden Zonkies! This year also marks the first time that we have changed up our format for the special mega cast—we’re doing away with categories!  Now, bear in mind, we’re still giving our prestigious mark of excellence, a Golden Zonkey, to the games that are deserving of recognition, only, we’re not doing by a respective genre, or category. Instead, we will be giving them out in a personal list format by each of us in the podcast, and we’ll be spending time discussing why we picked the titles we did within a countdown of five, and before we even get into that, we’ll also do a roundtable of games that were worth a quick mention from the year. We will then award the “Golden Zonkey of The Year” in a unanimous vote that was similar to previous format, and conclude the show from there.

There you have it; welcome to the latest class of the Golden Zonkies, we hope you kick back and enjoy the show!

Mail us at our new email [email protected], leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

Let it be known that in this episode, George admits that Ninja Theory is alright. I just wanted to make sure everyone knows that before we get into anything else. In this episode of Press Pause Radio, our crew discusses all the news and information from the month of November, such as the passing of Stan Lee, the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 and Detective Pikachu. The group also finds out about the difference between vacation and holiday according to Peppa Pig before going into our featured topic which is the state of E3. With more and more companies leaving to put on their own showcase, does the gaming industry need something like the Electronic Entertainment Expo? We weigh in on this topic and much more. Please let us know what you think about E3 and what we can expect from the industry next year. We appreciate everyone taking the time to check out the show and encourage you all to stay tuned for more!

Mail us at our new email [email protected], leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

Man, did you hear what the Quarter-Man said about the Neo Geo BFT?! That's going to be so much hype right? How many times have we as the gaming community seen this scenario play out? Hype being controlled by the developers and publishers is nothing new, however nowadays it seems like the slow drip of information long before a title is to be announced can be damaging to a games momentum. The crew discuss the culture and marketing behind industry leaks, as well as random things in the sky that frighten us and current controversies such as crunch in game development and NERF guns at the resurrected Toys 'R Us.

Mail us at our new email [email protected], leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

Most kids just care about getting a Victory Royale in Fortnite these days, and then there other kids who don’t even remember anything about their past, and are prophesized to save the world alongside a talking dog, a hitchhiker, and some retired ninja or something—ain’t that a kick in the seat?

Japanese Role-Playing games have always had their ups and downs within the last 25 years of gaming, but they have nonetheless remained a staple genre on the forefront of the western games market, especially now with heavy hitting games like Ys VIII and Octopath Traveler actually making it over to a major Nintendo platform. Join George, Andrew, and Ser as they go over the their thoughts on the budding mainstream renaissance of JRPGs, along with discussing Gradius II, Panzer Dragoon Saga, podcasting as a life skill, Destiny II, eating edibles at the age of 32, Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu, Super Mario Odyssey, Tekken 7, EVO news, and much, much more!

Mail us at our new email [email protected], leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

Hey everyone! It's chaboi, Toast welcoming you to the latest offering from Press Pause Radio. On this special episode the usual crew of Georgie, Ser, and I discuss the ups and downs of this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. So pull up a seat and ponder why all the new games are coming out in February now as we dive in to PPR episode 111!!!

E3 this year was a showcase of the most anticipated titles to release in the coming year as well as some notable surprises. Our humble ensemble will highlight many of these announcements as well as some controversies surrounding inclusion in games as well as compensation of artistic works featured in upcoming titles. We can’t for the life of us understand why there were so many haters out there wer squabbling their hearts out in Internet-land about the lack of new IP’s and surprises this year’s show—why complain about quantity when you’re being promised quality?

And of course our trio of talented temperamental top guns will go off the rails, and talk about Battletoads difficulty and variations of ketchup. I still am firmly against ketchup on eggs and pretty much everything else. Don't put ketchup on other foods man, it's gross. Please and thank you.

Mail us at our new email [email protected], leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

Soylent Green is people, or some shit like that—there we just saved you an hour and thirty-seven minutes, or did we? We may have just pulled a super dick-move, all for just a lazy comedy bit, and you’re probably super mad at us right now (assuming that you lived under a rock, and haven’t the seen one of Charlton Heston’s finest performances of course.)

This is the current climate of things, and no media is immune to the tyranny of spoiler culture, be they video game, film, or book, the nuances and charm that comes from the investment that we put into these cherished pieces of content can be ruined in an instant by the inconsiderate actions of a complete stranger.

We think that’s bogus; join Andrew, Ser, and George as they tackle the talking points that deal with Spoiler Culture, and why it’s gradually becoming more and more prevalent in the media spaces we keep. In addition to that, we talk about Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee edition, Street Fighter V Season 3, Bosskey Production’s Closure, Kenny Omega, getting a haircut, Apple being stingy with Valve, Ikaruga, God of War, the usual shit talk on the Ouya, and more. Smash that link, and get in on this episode before someone else spoils the sweet fart joke that Ser makes at the 45-minute mark!

Mail us at our new email [email protected], leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

I am so happy that George is able to take the time to upload our podcasts on a regular basis, because I struggle with it every time I am tasked with the responsibility. Like, I had to spend some time just trying to find those pixilated letters that he uses at the start of his posts, and then could not figure out how to line it up right in the paragraph. So if you are a fan of those in your podcast feed, you will be very disappointed. Internet is hard work, you guys. (Don't worry, I got him covered when I can!-G.)

Speaking of hard work, clone systems at times can seem like a labor of love for the systems of the past. Most times, however they seem like they were churned out as a quick money making opportunity, devoid of any sort of time and care that made the original such a treasured piece of hardware. Our crew will dive into the recent wave of re-imagined gaming consoles, as well as controversy surrounding former Donkey Kong world record holders, a whole mess of Switch titles and newer releases such as Yakuza 6 and Far Cry 5.

Mail us at our new email [email protected], leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

After just over a decade of service, the Wii Shop Channel is going to be largely inaccessible next week. All of those choices, $5-$10 Virtual Console titles that easily retail for hundreds of dollars in their physical vintage forms will be cut off from purchase in what ostensibly be a virtual catalog that you’ll never be able to order from again, or even see again once the channel is completely taken offline next year.

We have taken it upon ourselves to talk about the history and impact of the Wii Shop Channel, and what it did for the digital distribution model that took off in the sixth generation of video games. The gang also makes it a point to curate the must-have titles of software library that anyone would be remiss to the pass the chance on before they’re gone for good. We also talk about Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Yakuza 6, Luigi’s dick, Soul Calibur 6, and more, so be sure to download this episode and take some notes on the recommendations!

Mail us at our new email [email protected], leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

Normally, we’d start humming the tune of “Happy Birthday to You” to the Nintendo Switch, but we fought the urge as to not upset our lawyers who to…oh, there’s been an update? Excuse us for a moment….

*steps off to the side* “Yeah, uh-huh, Oh shit so it’s been settled? That’s great! I’ll go back and spread the good news!”

Hey y’all! It’s time to get turnt! Because we can all sing the Birthday song again without fear of a lawsuit! We’re going to put that shit into EVERY podcast now, you just wait and see!

On a more serious note, the PPR gang gets together to celebrate the first anniversary of the Nintendo Switch’s launch with discussion about the current state of the system and its software library, and the upcoming releases slated for the platform later this year. We also talk about some bummer news with the impending liquidation of Toys’R US stores across the nation , and the Trump Administration’s ridiculous smoke and mirror tactics towards the gun violence issue plaguing America by targeting the media of Video Games as a scapegoat to blame. We also cover Metal Gear Survive, StarForce, Marvel Vs Capcom Infinite, Moss, DragonBall FighterZ, the Secret of Mana remake, and more!

Mail us at our new email [email protected], leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on our Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!