Press Play to Save: Video Game News and Reviews on the Cheap

BOOM! Deals! News! Releases! The Rundown!  We talk about Minecraft: Education Edition, plus fan-made rebuilds of classic games. Plus, ESPN has launched an eSports branch, which is just bound to confuse basement dwellers everywhere!

 

NOTEWORTHY DEALS

XBL Games for Gold for January (link)

* XB1: Killer Instinct Season 1 Ultra edition

* XB1: Zheros

* 360: Dirt Showdown

* 360: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

* PSPlus Games for January (link)

* Dragon Age: Origins , PS3

* Grim Fandango Remastered , PS4, PS Vita

* Hardware: Rivals , PS4

* Legends of War Patton , PS Vita

* Medal of Honor Warfighter , PS3

* Nihilumbra, PS Vita

* Humble Bundle (link)

* BundleStars (link)

* http://www.cheapshark.com – an aggregate for PC digital game discounts across various sites

NEWS TICKER

* MS/Mojang have announced Minecraft: Education Edition, launching this summer (link) (video)

* Based on MinecraftEdu mod, which MS has acquired.

* Will be $5 per user for Libraries, Schools, etc

* Boosted 40 person multiplayer

* RETRO ROUND-UP

* Fans rebuilding Metal Gears Solid for PC using Unreal Engine 4 (link) Trailer (link) (video)

* Fans also rebuilding Goldeneye 64 in Unreal Engine 4 (link) (video)

* Releases

* Out This Week (video)

* A Boy and His Blob — PS4, Xbox One Digital, PC

* Baseball Riot— PS4, Vita Digital (Cross Buy)

* Dark Cloud 2 — PS2 Classic for PS4

* Resident Evil 0 — PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One Digital, PC

* Resident Evil Origins Collections — PS4

* Tachyon Project— PS4 Digital

* Life Is Strange — PS4, Xbox One Retail

* Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak — PC

* Out Next Week (video - the witness)

* LEGO Marvel’s Avengers — PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, 3DS, Wii U, Vita

* Nitroplus Blasterz Heroines Infinite Duel — PS4

* Saturday Morning RPG — PS4, Vita Digital (Cross Buy)

* The Witness — PS4 Digital, PC

* Rise of the Tomb Raider — PC

THE RUNDOWN

* Youtuber Cosmic Contrarian melted faces with a 20,000 troop war in Fallout 4. Things get nuts. (link)

* Former U.S. Marine and game developer Amir Hekmati has been released from an Iranian prison after FOUR YEARS of captivity for accusations of propaganda while working on a language retention program indirectly for the U.S. DoD. (link)

* More TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan screens leak from the Australian ratings submission because, well, everything leaks from their Australian ratings submissions. (link) (

We took some time off, so guess what we did? WE PLAYED HELLA GAMES, and we are ripe to talk about it, plus pick up on some hot news we didn't scratch on last week.  You're gonna wanna get on board as we talk Star Wars Battlefront, Madden, Ducktales, and all kinds of games you usually don't hear us talk about - even played with some poor man's VR!

On the Gaming Docket

* Howie - Rocket League, Star Wars Battlefront, Lego Dimensions, Tetris, Madden 2016, Snoopy Adventures, Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes, Color

* Chris - Fallout 4, Rocket League, Stronghold Crusader 2, Dungeon Defenders II, Cards+Castles

* Corey - Ducktales: Remastered, Contra: Remastered, Minecraft PE, Pac-Man CEDX, and the Google Cardboard

 News/Deals

* Nintendo 2DS, refurbed directly from Nintendo $60 bucks on eBay

* Top 10 Games Estimated by Sales on Steam were ( link )

* GTA V

* Fallout 4

* ARK: Survival Evolved

* Rocket Leagueo

* H1Z1

* Cities Skylines

* Besiege

* The Witcher 3

* Dying Light

* Life is Strange

* Activision purchased Major League Gaming, and they may be looking to start

their own TV Channel. ( link )

* Assassin’s Creed taking 2016 off for some MUCH… NEEDED… R&D, erp, R&R

( link )

* GAMING ALL IN ONES EVERYWHEREZ0RZ!?! ( Origin PC ) ( Lenovo )

THE RUNDOWN

* Oculus giving FREE headsets to those who pledged at least $275 to get

the first Dev Kit lo these years ago. ( link )

* Lenovo realizes there’s money in PC gaming and ups the ante on a wider

offering of gamecentric hardware ( link )

* A Boy and His Blob, or at least the remake from 2009, is coming to Xbox

One, PC, and PS4 on 1/19, according to Kotaku’s Patrick Klepek

* PC fans of Skyrim’s Macho Man mod will be happy to know you can now

turn Deathclaws into the MACHO Claws in Fallout 4 ( link )

* Playstation Network went down… again… for most of a day… and Sony

doesn’t care to say why. ( link )

* Man speedruns Fallout 3 in less time than it would take me to run from

one end of the map to the other without stopping ( link )

* Hackers get Linux running on a PS4, potentially paving the way for

QUOTE homebrew ENDQUOTE ( link )

* Dude gets Windows 95 running on a 3DS, like, FINALLY! ( link )

* PS4 sold 5.7 million units through the holidays, currently sitting at 35.9

mill, and PS Plus subscribers jumped 60% in the last year (

It's a hootin', hollerin' new year, and we're back in the saddle with some deals. Plus, we try to crack the code over the Steam Holiday Sale before we - that's right - before we jump on the bandwagon and hand out our slap-dash 2015 game awards.

 

Noteworthy Deals

XBL Games for Gold for January (link)

* XB1: Killer Instinct Season 1 Ultra edition

* XB1: Zheros

* 360: Dirt Showdown

* 360: Deus Ex: Human Revolution

* PSPlus Games for January (link)

* Dragon Age: Origins , PS3

* Grim Fandango Remastered , PS4, PS Vita

* Hardware: Rivals , PS4

* Legends of War Patton , PS Vita

* Medal of Honor Warfighter , PS3

* Nihilumbra, PS Vita

* Humble Bundle (link)

* Humble Monthly Bundle

* BundleStars (link)

* The rise of the multi-pack Bundles

The News Ticker

* Review of the Steam Holiday Sale

* Was it underwhelming?  Was it brilliant?  What just happened?

* Potentially featured an Augmented Reality Game that users are STILL

trying to decode even now that it’s over.

* Steam blew up on Christmas, exposing 34k users private info to others,

including billing and email addresses. This somehow was the result of a

DoS attack. (link)

 The 1st Annual Betty's

* Biggest Disappointment of the Year

* Worst Bundle Roulette Game of the Year

* Biggest Surprise of the Year

* Best Game of the Year

Play With Us Online:

* BetterKind.com

* Facebook.com/BetterKind

* Twitter & Instagram @PressPlaytoSave

* Our Twitch Channel!

* Watch our Videos on YouTube (someone has to)

Watch LIVE or recorded!

* twitch.tv/betterkind

Find your hosts on Twitter at:

* Corey the Emcee @WilsonCoreyT

* Chris the "Middle Name" @stumped17

* Steve at Master Control @sjhowie

Subscribe and Rate Us:

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Now that we're slathered in PS4's, Chris has been playing Fallout 4 - except he didn't realize that 75% of the game was a thing until he saw Corey playing it. Listen in for more on how Chris is dumb, PLUS special guest Bevan Bowles joins the conversation, even going so far as to subject himself to the Bundle Roulette. STAY TUNED FOR MASOCHISM!

On the Gaming Docket

* Howie - Rocket League

* Chris - Fallout 4, Rocket League, Grim Dawn, Cards+Castles

* Corey - Rocket League, Fallout 4

* Bevan - Total War: Rome 2, Rocket League

Bundle Roulette

* Reviews are in!

* Howie -Knights & Merchants

* Chris - The Samaritan Pardox

* Corey - TVolstead

* Bevan - Hoard: Complete Pack

* Draw for next Bundle roulette games

THE Question

We ask Bevan the question we ask all guests - what hero/person/character would he put in a "dream" Smash Brothers game?

ANOTHER Question

@Ezly99 asks us if we had a mascot for the podcast, what would it be?

Play With Us Online:

* BetterKind.com

* Facebook.com/BetterKind

* Twitter & Instagram @PressPlaytoSave

* Our Twitch Channel!

* Watch our Videos on YouTube (someone has to)

Find your hosts on Twitter at:

* Corey the Emcee @WilsonCoreyT

* Chris the "Middle Name" @stumped17

* Steve at Master Control @sjhowie

Subscribe and Rate Us:

* iTunes

* Stitcher

* tunein

Let the dillz be heard! SHOUT THEM FROM THE MOUNTAINS! Things are kicking into mad holiday gear with BundleStars' Killer Bundle 6, and speaking of gears, Howie and Chris are finally PS4 owners, though Howie's still incubating his for some reason.

 

Noteworthy Deals

XBL Games for Gold for December (link)

* XB1: Incredible adventures of Van Helsing

* XB1: Thief

* 360: Castle Storm

* 360: Sacred 3

* 360: Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

* PSPlus Games for December (link)

* Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, PS3

* Freedom Wars, PS Vita

* Gauntlet: Slayer Edition, PS4

* King’s Quest — Chapter 1: A Knight to Remember, PS4

* Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken, PS Vita

* SSX, PS3

* Humble Bundle (link)

* Humble Monthly Bundle

* Banished

* Rust

* Payday 2 (+ 3 DLC, Dragan, Big Bank, Gage Assault Pack)

* Neon Struct

* Chroma Squad

* Company Of Heroes 2 (+ Western Front Armies + British Forces)

* Shadwen (Bonus Sneak Peak Demo)

* BundleStars (link)

* Killer Bundle 6 - 41 games for $5

* Square Enix holiday surprise box $9.99 ($80 worth) till Dec 18th (link)

The News Ticker

* The Frankfurt Majors - Dota2

* Sony has a PS2 emulator for PS4 – but they haven’t really figured out what to do with it. (link) (link)

* Star Wars Battlefront is out – and it’s gorgeous and fun, but unfortunately it’s also barely there. (link) (link) (link) (link)

* The “full experience” with season pass will cost $110 all in.

* Metascore at 74 based on 28 critics, User Score of 5.3.

 The RUNDOWN

* Diablo 3's latest patch is one of the game's biggest (link)

* includes an easter egg knod to Fallout with “Boyarsky’s Chip,” a legendary gem named after Leaonard Boyarsky who worked on Diablo III and art director for the original Fallout. (link)

* Skydiver strapped into living room set, plays video games while freefalling (link)

We're joined this week by guest Kyle Bentley (@Inceptivee and twitch.tv/inceptivee), and we get our games on!  It's Rocket League, Cards & Castles, Turbo Dismount (and some clarification on what exactly it means to be a "pot game"), and Kyle tells us why Halo 5 is a return to pure Halo form.  Bud up!

On the Gaming Docket

* Howie - Turbo Dismount, Rocket League

* Chris - Dota2, Stronghold Crusader 2, Cards+Castles (w/ listener Wurmwood)

* Corey - Rocket League, Fallout 4

* Kyle Bentley (@Inceptivee and twitch.tv/inceptivee) - Halo 5

Bundle Roulette

* Reviews are in!

* Howie - Frozen Synapse Prime

* Chris - Puzzle Kingdoms

* Corey - Tcheco in the Castle of Lucio

* Draw for next Bundle roulette games

THE Question

We ask Kyle the question we ask all guests - what hero/person/character would he put in a "dream" Smash Brothers game?  His answer may shock you...

Play With Us Online:

* BetterKind.com

* Facebook.com/BetterKind

* Twitter & Instagram @PressPlaytoSave

* Our Twitch Channel!

* Watch our Videos on YouTube (someone has to)

Find your hosts on Twitter at:

* Corey the Emcee @WilsonCoreyT

* Chris the "Middle Name" @stumped17

* Steve at Master Control @sjhowie

Subscribe and Rate Us:

* iTunes

* Stitcher

* tunein

Ermagherd!  Fallout 4 is out!  And since we haven't played a *ton* of it yet, there's a TON OF NEWS to talk about, like the Steam Controller and Steam Link hitting the streets, video game movies looking to break "the curse," and Overwatch beta streams - all before another meaty rundown!

Noteworthy Deals

XBL Games for Gold for November (link)

XB1: Pneuma: Breath of life

XB1: Knight squad

360: Dirt 3

360: Dungeon Siege 3

* PSPlus Games for November (link)

Walking dead season 2 - PS4

Magicka 2 - PS4

Mass Effect 2, PS3

Beyond Good & Evil, PS3

Dragon Fin Soup, PS4, PS Vita (PS3 Cross-Buy when available)

Invizimals, PS Vita

* Humble Bundle (link)

Build your own evolve bundle

* BundleStars (link)

Steam Halloween Sale done and over, but A LOT of sales

With Black Friday/Christmas right around the corner, what kinds of deals are you hoping come out if any?

The News Ticker

Overwatch isn’t Free to Play, will feature 21 heros in all (link)

Fallout 4 is released today! and surpasses Skyrim for concurrent Steam users (link)

A lot of leaked footage, followed by a new trailer in response

First looks and reviews show that it’s good if you’re new to Fallout, Great if you love Fallout

PS4 and XB1 versions are nearly identical, PC is only slightly better (link)

* Batman Arkham Knight for PC was pulled from sale, refunds offered, worked for months, put back on sale, is still broken, refunds being offered again (link)

Redaction Retraction: 100 360 Games will be Backward Compatible with Xbox One (link)

Can the Warcraft movie break the video game movie curse? (full trailer)

What about the upcoming Assassin’s Creed movie and planned Call of Duty, Skylanders, and Witcher movies?

* Steam controller, PC streaming concept

Howie the console hater’s thoughts

 The RUNDOWN

Amazon doing midnight deliveries of Black Ops 3 (link)

Nintendo didn’t create the next Wii, Apple did (link)

Gamestop black Friday deals leaked (link)

Best Buy’s Black Friday Deals 500$ Xbox One and HDTV offer (link)

The EULA for the Steam version of Divinity: Original Sin hid a tease for a reward for the first 100 users to actually read it and contact the studio – and they got free games! (link<...

What have WE been playing? Well, since you asked nicely (stop flirting with us), we've been getting our mobile gaming on HARD while Chris ACTUALLY BELIEVES HE CAN START FALLOUT 3 OVER AND FINISH BEFORE FALLOUT 4 COMES OUT -- THE FOOL!!!  This week's free game is Pac-Man 256, and we find toxic sludge to Howie because reasons, that's why.  Bundle Roulette is *lovely as ever, and we take a question from follower.

*lovely = truly terrifying

 On the Gaming Docket

* Howie - Turbo Dismount

* Chris - Fallout 3, Cards and Castles ranked/Draft mode, Grim Dawn

* Corey - Angry birds 2, Punch quest, Minecraft

Free-to-Play GotW: Pac-Man 256 (android, iOS)

What’s in Howie’s Mouth

Well, it's "toxic," and it looks like Walter White may have stashed untold amounts of cash in it...

Bundle Roulette

* Reviews are in!

* Howie - Ridge Racer Unbounded Bundle

* Chris - Ace Combat Assault Horizon - Enhanced Edition

* Corey - Victim of Xen

* Draw for next Bundle roulette games

Up for Debate

Chris is almost ready to pull the trigger on a new console, but he's still torn! Listen as Howie offers gentle advice while Corey tries to tear him from his perch and bury him safely in PS4's backyard.

Questions from YOU

@B5Slue8 asks: What was the first Game you ever played?

Play With Us Online:

* BetterKind.com

* Facebook.com/BetterKind

* Twitter & Instagram @PressPlaytoSave

* Our Twitch Channel!

* Watch our Videos on YouTube (someone has to)

Find your hosts on Twitter at:

* Corey the Emcee @WilsonCoreyT

* Chris the "Middle Name" @stumped17

* Steve at Master Control @sjhowie

Subscribe and Rate Us:

* iTunes

* Stitcher

* tunein

Sony and MS are waiting until the last possible minute to reveal their free games for November, but STEAM's got you covered with a Halloween Sale in the meantime!  Also we've got new rumors about Nintendo's next console, some notes about the new Xbox One controller, and we set Chris straight regarding the forthcoming Xbox ONE backward compatibility.  Oh yeah, he totes EATS it.

Noteworthy Deals

* XBL Games for Gold (November, 2015) RUMORS (link)

* PSPlus Games for November Rumors

* Battlefield Hardline?

* Humble Bundle (Link)

* BundleStars (Link)

* Saints Row bundle

* Steam Halloween Sales (link)

* Brothers on IOS $4.99

The News Ticker

* Nintendo’s next system reported to be both console AND handheld (link)

* Suggested to have “more than two devices”

* May be reaching out to developers yet this month

* Suggested names from the gang

* How Microsoft built a better controller...again (link)

* Backwards compatibility for Xbox ONE - Maybe not what Chris initially thought. (link)

 The RUNDOWN

* Harmonix caught posting five-star Rock Band 4 review on Amazon (link)

* Activision hired a former ESPN CEO to head its new e-sports division (link)

* Destiny appears on TV quiz show Jeopardy (link)

* Mighty No.9 won’t be delayed again, might get a sequel (link)

* Star Wars Battlefront beta, biggest beta in EA history (link)

* Xbox live architect Eric Neustadter has left Microsoft (link)

* Youtubers feel coerced into new Red subscription service (link)

* Xbox live beta app now lets you find Xbox live friends from facebook (link)

* Fallout 4 gets its own beer (link)

* Microsoft hints that Halo 5 could launch on the PC (link)

* Fallout Shelter gets Halloween (link)

* Playstation store has a new wishlist feature (link)

* Legendary Dota2 team Na’vi is calling it quits and clearing the roster.

We've been playin' some games, and we're gonna talk about'em come hell or high ping!  We also get into the Free Game of the Week, which Howie got addicted to immediately after we recorded!  We also step back up to the white-knuckling Bundle Roulette wheel before tackling the console debate and taking a question from you! Put the bundle to the grundle!

On the Gaming Docket

* Howie - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Path to Luma

* Chris - Cards and Castles, D3 going stale, Dota2

* Corey - Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Landmark 

Free-to-Play GotW: Turbo Dismount (android, iOS, Steam, web)

What’s in Howie’s Mouth

It's familiar in shape, but horrifying in flavor! Well, maybe not "horrifying"...

Bundle Roulette

* Reviews are in!

* Howie - Deep Eclipse: New Space Odyssey

* Chris - Global Ops: Commando Libya

* Corey - Platformines

* Draw for next Bundle roulette games 

* Howie - Ridge Racer Unbounded Bundle

* Corey - Victim of Xen

* Chris - Ace Combat Assault Horizon - Enhanced Edition

Up for Debate

Chris is almost ready to pull the trigger on a new console, but he's still torn! Listen as Howie offers gentle advice while Corey tries to tear him from his perch and bury him safely in PS4's backyard.

Questions from YOU

@simon879 asks: Time travel to the past or time travel to the future?  - The answers will SHOCK YOU!

Play With Us Online:

* BetterKind.com

* Facebook.com/BetterKind

* Twitter & Instagram @PressPlaytoSave

* Our Twitch Channel!

* Watch our Videos on YouTube (someone has to)

Find your hosts on Twitter at:

* Corey the Emcee @WilsonCoreyT

* Chris the "Middle Name" @stumped17

* Steve at Master Control @sjhowie

Subscribe and Rate Us:

* iTunes

* Stitcher

* tunein