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

Boom! Gaming news totally in my face! We hit the deals like they've been sassin'. Then, it's off to the races with who won the 2nd Annual Rektreational (guess - JUST GUESS!). Also, Steam briefly ran out of steam, Fallout 4 was pretty much done before we knew it, and Microsoft continues to (re)evolve while Nintendo eke's out a profit.  And don't even get me STARTED on the biggie-sized Rundown this week!

Noteworthy Deals

* XBL Games for Gold (August, 2015)

* XB1: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (all month long)

* XB1: How to Survive: Storm Warning Edition (second half)

* 360: Metro 2033 (first half)

* 360: Metro: Last Light (second half)

* PSPlus Games for August

* PS4: Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris

* PS4: LIMBO

* PS4, PS3, VITA: Soundshapes

* PS4, PS3, VITA: Stealth, Inc. 2: A Game of Clones

* PS3: God of War: Ascension

* PS3, VITA: CastleStorm

* Humble Bundle: Bandia Namco Bundle (link)

The News Ticker

* Rektreational 2  -  PIT LORD META TWO TIME GRAND CHAMPIONS (Link) Also, buy the shirt.

* The International (Valve's DOTA2 Tournament) has started! $18 million prize pool

* Steam got hax0red. (link)

* Hackers got in using password recovery and circumventing the required security code

* Mostly prominent community members and CS:GO Twitch-casters affected

* Has been patched

* Fallout 4 was almost done before it was ever revealed (link)

* XBOX ONE to start streaming PC games… eventually (link)

* Does this signal an even stronger paradigm shift for MS?

* Why in the hell can’t the 360?

* Nintendo profitable again, if only just (link)

* Attributed to stronger games lineup and Amiibos

 The RUNDOWN

* Dave & Buster’s announces a timed exclusive of a new 8-foot-long Angry Birds arcade cabinet to eat tokens and poop tickets (link)

* The first two games announced for Nintendo’s upcoming console, codenamed NX, are Dragon Quest X and Dragon Quest XI. (link)

* Capcom halted and postponed the Street Fighter V beta because it was straight-up broken when initially launched (link)

* Gamer-pandering worked for Wreck-It Ralph, but not for Pixels and critics slam-pan the film, especially Sandler (link)

* New DOOM game picks up the pace, brings back health packs while locking players to two-guns loadout (link)

* Drake ain’t havin’ none of Meek Mill’s sh*t, drops a beat called Cha-Cha, sampling Star Road theme from Super Mario World (

We continue making Howie close his eyes and eat things because it pleases us.  But we ALSO talk about Borderlands 2, Grim Dawn, Age of Empires II, Unturned, and going hands on with the latest Terraria update. Our free-to-play game this week is a lovely little diddy over on CBS.com, and we debate which genre is better - ZOMBEEZ OR ALIENZ0RZ! All that, and a listener question? I HOPE YOU ATE A LIGHT LUNCH!

What's in Howie's Mouth

Not as frightening as days past, it's a familiar flavor... with another familiar flavor. Not a tanginess. Not an earthiness. More of an M&-emminess?

On the Gaming Docket

* Howie - Borderlands 2

* Chris - Grim Dawn, Age of Empire II

* Corey - Terraria, Unturned

Free-to-Play GotW: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Escape from the Man-Sized Cabinet  (link)

Up for Debate:

Are Aliens better than Zombies? Aaaaand FIGHT!

Listener Question:

“So for Fallout 4, am I going to need to buy a current gen console?” - @Flamekebab

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Find your hosts on Twitter at:

* Corey the Emcee @WilsonCoreyT

* Chris the "Middle Name" @stumped17

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It's a red letter episode! Not only to we hit the deals, including extra iPhone storage (yes, it's a thing, kinda), but we hit a HEAPING pile of news, such as a Prime Day post-mortem and the pre-post-mortem of a Comcast/EA joint venture. And we kick off a brand new segment called Bundle Roulette - where we all get assigned a random bundled game to play and review, no matter how punishing!  RIDE THE WHITE DRAGON!

Noteworthy Sales

* Greenmangaming finishing up their summer sale (link)

* Mophie 32 gb expansion memory and battery for iphone 5/5s at Best Buy only $57 down from $180.  Don't bother with the website - that price is in-store only.

The News Ticker

* Rektreational 2 update/team standings (Link)

* Nintendo’s president Satoru Iwata died at 55 years of age (link)

* Prime Day Post Mortem (link) (link)

* PRO-jecting: The International DotA2 Tournament will be broadcast IN THEATERS (link)

* Comcast and EA launch Xfinity Games streaming beta – comes with all the caveats you’d expect (link)

* Uses tablet app for controller (when it works)

* Requires syncing to an Origin (or EA) account

* Only EA Games (23 of em)

* Popcap is a “genre”

* EVO NEWS

* Winner, Momochi, took the title despite his stick breaking in the middle of the Grand Final (link)

* Player makes a second round massive come-back to the best in the business in Guilty Gear, gets third-round trashed while celebrating toward the audience. (link)

* Street Fighter V claimed to be a continually evolving platform where new features will be earnable and unlockable in-game (link)

* Jamie Lee Curtis went to EVO as shirtless Vega from Street Fighter (however she was not shirtless) (link)

* Husband, Christopher Guest as Dr. Geppetto from Tekken

* Part of her son’s “Graduation Trip”

 The RUNDOWN

* Commodore Phone comes with official emulators (link)

* Warcraft movie footage leaked from Comic Con (link) – Due out Summer, 2016

* One Pro Counter-Strike player says all the pros are on Adderall (link)

* Broken PC Port of Batman: Arkham Knight won’t be fixed until SEPTEMBER (link)

* Kojima’s name removed from Metal Gear Box Art (link) – severing ties with Konami

Been on the fence about picking up a discounted PSTV?  Corey may have a few words to tip you over and send you taking a header into the garden.  The lads also chat UNWYND, Hero Siege, Futuridium, and being late but not unfashionably so to the Bioshock party.  Also, we're still not shutting up about Fallout Shelter, AND WE'RE NOT EVEN SORRY.

On the Gaming Docket

* Howie - UNWYND

* Chris - Hero Siege, Bioshock (original)

* Corey -Futuridium

Free-to-Play GotW: Fallout Shelter on iOS (discussion, part deux) (link)

Corey's Tale of PlayStation TV Woes

Up for Debate:

Question from listener Paul Kroll “The Playstation Police” : Do you think Steam should start a “free” game subscription service similar to Games with Gold or Playstation Plus?

What's in Howie's Mouth

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Find your hosts on Twitter at:

* Corey the Emcee @WilsonCoreyT

* Chris the "Middle Name" @stumped17

* Steve at Master Control @sjhowie

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It's a block party up in here as the lads stack up all the news from Minecon, in addition to the Terraria 1.3 patch.  Learn just how soon the industry-insiders-turned-DOTA2-afficianados are going to get REKT this year, and then buckle yours safety belt for the breakneck news rundown!

Noteworthy Sales

* July Games for Gold

* Plants vs Zombies - 360

* Gear of War 3 - 360

* Assassin's Creed Black Flag - XB1

* So Many Me - XB1

* July Free Games for PSPlus

* Rocket League - PS4

* Styx: Master of Shadows - PS4

* Mousecraft - PS4, PS3, Vita

* Entwined - PS4, PS3, Vita

* Rain - PS3

* Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions Evolved - Vita

* July 15th will be Amazon's "Prime Day," rife with all kinds of sales (link)

* Tower of Fortune on iOS, usually one buck, now free (link)

* PlayStation TV’s (VITA TV’s) are down to $39.99 across several outlets, including Gamestop.  No controller, but works with PS3 and PS4 controllers.

The News Ticker

* Rektreational 2 (Link)

* NEWS FROM MINECON!

* New Features (link)

* Dual Wielding (torch plus sword – Aw, yissss!)

* Shields

* Enchanted Arrows

* Buff bar (positive and negative effects)

* The End island to become a full realm

* Ability to respawn the Ender Dragon

* Pocket Edition to receive more features already on other platforms

* Minecraft: Windows 10 edition ditches Java and will allow multiplayer with Pocket Edition. (link)

* Telltale making a Minecraft STORY game called Minecraft: Story Mode (link)

* Launching a site to help educators understand what they can do with the game (link)

* Terraria 1.3 Features (link)

* Better Steam Incorporation

* Manage Multiplayer through STEAM

* Steam cloud saving

* Steam achievements

* NPCs now have some semblance of AI (fight or flight, etc)

* Blood and gore filter for the kiddies

* More character appearance options

* Link items through chat

* Crafting improvements / expansions

* AUTO-STACK INTO NEARBY CHESTS! HUZZAH!

* Boss icons on mini-maps

* EXPERT MODE

* Better AI, stronger enemies, more loot, bigger punishments

 The RUNDOWN

* Square Enix offers refunds for FF XIV MMO on Mac, suspends sales (poor performance and communication of system requirements cited (link)

* Mega-Man and Might Number 9 creator now launching a kickstarter to pretty much take over Mega-Man Legends, as well (Red Ash: The Incredible Legend) (link)

This weeks episode has a whole slew of games we have been playing that we discuss and criticise one another for playing! Then we go into all sorts of details about the free game of the week! Then we tackle a big Witcher 3 debate topic, then the best part is the newest (video and audio) segment oh What’s in Howie’s mouth?

On the Gaming Docket

* Howie - Heros of the Storm, Force Unleashed

* Chris - Left4Dead2, Hero Siege, Outlast

* Corey -ARK: Survival Evolved

Free-to-Play GotW: Fallout Shelter on iOS (link)

Up for Debate:

Witcher 3 receives 10/10 on many reviews getting crazy attention from all who play it. While a game can never be truly perfect, how do we give something a “perfect” title to this game here and now?

A VERY Special What's in Howie's Mouth

You can listen to the mania at the end of the episode, or what all 30 glorious minutes here.

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Find your hosts on Twitter at:

* Corey the Emcee @WilsonCoreyT

* Chris the "Middle Name" @stumped17

* Steve at Master Control @sjhowie

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In this episode you get your weekly dose of all the sweet deals you could ever possibly want, then we naturally cover all things relevant about our thoughts on the E3 party!

Noteworthy Sales

* Humble Bundle - Borderlands Bundle (link)

* BundleStars : Stalker trilogy, LEGO Batman 3 with lots of DLC (link)

The News Ticker

* MS Releasing the “Rare Collection” for Xbox One – 30 bucks for 30 games (link)

* The E3 PC Gaming Conference - juh, wha? (link)

* Star Citizen-Lots of mo-cap - Promises to be at PC Gaming conference next year

* AMD – Graphics cards beefed up for VR (nine new cards launched this week)

* Dual FIJI video card revealed, dog and pony show regarding a briefcase left on stage the whole show. Pretty dumb. Powerful and likely will cost all the rice in China.

* (Nvidia tweeted during the show that it was bad form to prevent them from participating, KABAM)

* Phil Spencer (head of Xbox) showed up, was getting hardcore razzed by the PC audience.

* Gave a concession that MS hasn’t been kind enough to PC gamers recently (Games for Windows Live, anyone?)

* Windows 10 has the same API set for Xbox Live

* Aim to support all facets of PC gaming, whether for big screen or keyboard/mouse/monitor

* Killer Instinct coming to PC

* Fable Legends will be PC/Xbox cross-platform compatible – will be Free to Play, also 5v5 pvp – action MOBA, closed beta in august

* Eve: Valkyrie – VR Starfighter battles designed from the ground-up for Occulus

* No Man’s Sky will be launched day one on PC and PS4. (space exploration and “infinite” worlds sim)

Play With Us Online:

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* 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

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The gang's all in for an icy cool blast of E3 newsplosions. It's all about the big announcements this week, as we cover the pre-show press conferences that snuck in before recording. We also review the Steam M-m-m-m-m-MONSTER sale and how it hit home. Wanna talk early access games? Tune in! Wanna hear us do a complete 180 about early access when ARK comes up in the conversation? TUNE IN!

Noteworthy Sales

* STEAM M-M-M-M-M-M-MONSTER SALE

* Around the room with what we bought

* The M-M-M-M-M-M-M-M-MONSTER Sale Game... type thing.

* Bundlestars Gauntlet Party Bundle (link)

The News Ticker

* Fallout 4 is officiaaaaaaaaaal for the Holidays(also free Fallout Shelter on iOS is out now!)

* Xbox One Backwards Sortapatibility (sound familiar?)

* Early Access games coming to Xbox ONE

* Is this a good thing?  Is early access even a good thing?

* Now how do you feel when we talk about ARK: Survival Evolved?  Eh?  EEHHH?

* Xbox ONE Elite Controller costs more than 3DS (link)

The Lowdown Dirty Rundown

* Doom in Spring 2016

* Shenmue 3 Just Hit $2 Million, Setting a New Kickstarter Record

* FFVII Remake for people who like that kind of crap.

* The Last Guardian is still alive for PS4 in 2016

* Hitman still exists.

* Uncharted 4 announced

* Minecraft with Hololens – looking cooler, but does it really serve a practical purpose?

* Media Molecule (LittleBigPlanet) release a “dream-building engine” called Dreams, for making games, videos, art, etc.

* Dishonored 2 announced

* Unravel is the opposite of what one expects from EA

* Street Fighter V – Sony exclusive

Play With Us Online:

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* 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

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Could it be?  Have Howie and Chris been playing the same game at the SAME TIME?!  We're talking Tera this week, in addition to Tap Titans, Robot Roller Derby Disco Dodgeball, and Shadow of Mordor.  Also, the limericks land in a two-rounder all-out brawl!

On the Gaming Docket

* Howie - Tap Titans

* Chris - Robot Roller Derby Disco Dodgeball

* Corey - Shadow of Mordor

Newsbits

* Steam Machines and Accessories release November of 2015 and have their own store page. (link)

* Fall-out countdown clock (Now Fall-out 4)

Free-to-Play GotW: TERA

Limericks DOUBLE Edition (Tera and Fallout)

Play With Us Online:

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Find your hosts on Twitter at:

* Corey the Emcee @WilsonCoreyT

* Chris the "Middle Name" @stumped17

* Steve at Master Control @sjhowie

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Special guest Aaron (aka Tecno) climbs aboard as ride the gravy train to Gamestown!  We go over all the noteworthy sales and the Live Gold and PSPlus games for June, before talking news like Hatred, Brothers on Consoles, and dare we say LEGO WORLDS? Yes, we dare. We ALWAYS dare.

Noteworthy Sales

* May FREE games for Gold/PS plus (link)

* X360 : Just Cause 2 & Thief

* Xbone : Massive Chalice & Pool Nation FX

* PSPlus Free Games (link)

* PS3: Call of Juarez: Gunslinger and Cloudberry Kingdom

* PS4: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Skulls of the Shogun: Bone-A-Fide Edition, Super Exploding Zoo*, and Futuridium EP Deluxe*

* also available on Vita

* Humble NINDIE Bundle (Nintendo eShop games!) (link)

* Bundlestars Shadow of Mordor deal (link)

The News Ticker

* Possible Leak of dates for the Steam Summer Sale June 11th-June 22nd

* GoG keeps 'Hatred' off the digital shelves (link)

* 'LEGO Worlds' has launched in early access - prepared to brick down and brick busy! (link)

* 'Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons' is FINALLY coming to consoles (link)

* New PS4's coming with more drive space, slightly less power consumption (link)

* DC Comics' 'Infinite Crisis' game shutting down after only half a year since launch (link)

* Nintendo's "NX" (new console) is going to be running Android, except that it isn't. (link), but then (link)

Play With Us Online:

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* 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

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