Red Rooster's Gaming Coop

Welcome to the Pining For Pixels podcast! This is my video game variety show podcast, part of the Red Rooster's Gaming Coop network where I talk gaming and gaming culture every week. Each episode will feature a subject or theme that interests me, and I will speak about what is on my mind in the world of video games!

Time to talk about my progress with the Trails series. I have recently completed the original Trails in the Sky Second Chapter, and started into Trails in the Sky the 3rd. What a ride this series has been so far, and this is only the first official story arc! I wanted to be sure to complete Sky SC before the remake came out, and I did. In this episode I go over all my thoughts on this monumental entry in the series as I have experienced it for the first time, as well as what my first steps in Trails the 3rd have been like. I will warn though, that this episode has lots of spoilers, and since there is a recent well received remake of Trails SC, be wary if you don't want to be spoiled. Tune in if you have already played these classics or if you don't mind getting spoiled and you want to hear my thoughts on what makes these games so great (so far)!

If you would like to reach out, you can reach me at [email protected] - I would love to hear from you! 

Follow me on X: @RedRoosterGC

Welcome to the Saving Throes podcast! This is my Tabletop role-playing game podcast, part of the Red Rooster's Gaming Coop network where I talk gaming and gaming culture every week. Each episode will feature a topic or theme along with my take on current happenings in the world of tabletop role-playing games and semi regular updates on the games I am currently involved with, or new games or products I have come across.

Cancellation of a pre-planned TTRPG session is something that everyone has experienced for one reason or another at various times. In my opinion. this is a bit of a specific issue with TTRPGs in general, you can have everything set and planned for a long time, and then 1 or 2 hours before game time, someone bails, potentially throwing the game into disarray. Now this isn't always the death knell of your plans, perhaps it is a an old school sandbox style game that can still march on, but sometimes if one person cancels, others start to fall like dominoes immediately after. Whatever the reason, an unexpected game cancellation sucks, especially when it becomes a pattern. This week I wanted to examine these situations in details to understand why this can happen to a TTRPG group, how we naturally handle it, and what you can possibly do about it. Tune in to hear my own real life examples and how I handle it, or in some cases, how I plan to handle it. 

If you would like to reach out, you can reach me at [email protected] - I would love to hear from you! 

Follow me on X: @RedRoosterGC

Welcome to the Pining For Pixels podcast! This is my video game variety show podcast, part of the Red Rooster's Gaming Coop network where I talk gaming and gaming culture every week. Each episode will feature a subject or theme that interests me, and I will speak about what is on my mind in the world of video games!

September 29, 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the Nintendo 64 console here in North America! This was a big release for me as this was the first console I purchased with my own money that was saved up from my part time Job at the time. This was the first time I was getting a home console that was not a Christmas present. It was such a surreal feeling to have a new console during a normal time of the year. It was also a huge advancement in how games were made  and how we experienced games going forward. Despite the fact that the N64 was not as successful as its primary competitor at that time, the Sony PlayStation, it had a much more important impact on the world of gaming from a hardware perspective and certainly from a software perspective. Tune in to hear my thoughts and what some of my favourite games were on this landmark console. 

If you would like to reach out, you can reach me at [email protected] - I would love to hear from you! 

Follow me on X: @RedRoosterGC

Welcome to the Saving Throes podcast! This is my Tabletop role-playing game podcast, part of the Red Rooster's Gaming Coop network where I talk gaming and gaming culture every week. Each episode will feature a topic or theme along with my take on current happenings in the world of tabletop role-playing games and semi regular updates on the games I am currently involved with, or new games or products I have come across.

Wizards of the Coast announced earlier this year that they will be starting a new line of official D&D books, called "Universes Beyond". This concept was a hit with their other game, Magic the Gathering, so as anticipated they have brought the concept over to D&D. For anyone unfamiliar with this line, it is essentially doing cross overs with other popular IP to generate interest in the game. It is usually aimed at cross brand synergy for both properties. It will start this November with the release of the World of Warcraft D&D book, which is also when World of Warcraft is launching a new service for the still popular MMO video game. As official previews of this upcoming book are popping up everywhere, I wanted to speculate on what this line means for official D&D and the TTRPG hobby in general, as well as what other future crossovers might happen. Tune in to also hear what some non-D&D games could potentially cross over with as well if they were inspired by this. 

If you would like to reach out, you can reach me at [email protected] - I would love to hear from you! 

Follow me on X: @RedRoosterGC

Welcome to the Pining For Pixels podcast! This is my video game variety show podcast, part of the Red Rooster's Gaming Coop network where I talk gaming and gaming culture every week. Each episode will feature a subject or theme that interests me, and I will speak about what is on my mind in the world of video games!

At the beginning of every year, I always compile a list of the games I am most looking forward to, that are set to release in that calendar year. I usually don't do too much with it after the fact though, but this year I wanted to change that and re-visit this list to see how well it held up not that the years is about 3/4 over. The likelihood that something is going to be announced soon that is set to release by December 31, 2026 is highly unlikely at this point, so I thought it was worth a look at what is almost certainly the final list (although I won't complain if Square Enix decides to do a remaster of Xenogears and shadow drops it!). Tune in to hear which games met or even exceeded my expectations, and which ones didn't quite live up to what I had hoped for.

If you would like to reach out, you can reach me at [email protected] - I would love to hear from you! 

Follow me on X: @RedRoosterGC

Welcome to the Saving Throes podcast! This is my Tabletop role-playing game podcast, part of the Red Rooster's Gaming Coop network where I talk gaming and gaming culture every week. Each episode will feature a topic or theme along with my take on current happenings in the world of tabletop role-playing games and semi regular updates on the games I am currently involved with, or new games or products I have come across.

Now that Arcana Unleashed and the adventure Deadfall that goes with it are both released everywhere, I want to give my first impressions of this dual release. This is following in a similar fashion of having 2 smaller sized books released as one thematic set, much like the Forgotten Realms books last year. The players options and surprisingly high level focussed adventure books are both themed around all things arcane, as one would expect. This fleshes out some sorely missed content that was left out of the 5.5 PHB if you are a Wizard player, and attempts to add some new systems for magic items among other things. Tune in to hear what I considered to be pros and cons of the player options book and why this high level adventure surprised me. 

If you would like to reach out, you can reach me at [email protected] - I would love to hear from you! 

Follow me on X: @RedRoosterGC

Welcome to the Pining For Pixels podcast! This is my video game variety show podcast, part of the Red Rooster's Gaming Coop network where I talk gaming and gaming culture every week. Each episode will feature a subject or theme that interests me, and I will speak about what is on my mind in the world of video games!

Time for another Report Card episode! It is also another 2 for 1 report card as well! Like Sony's recent back to back presentations, Nintendo also did a back to back duo of shows. They did a Legend of Zelda 40th anniversary show that focussed heavily on showing off the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake, and the next day they a a 45 minute general Direct. There was a ton of content shown off, from ports of existing games, closer looks at games we already knew about, and more than a few surprise announcements. Tune in to hear what my thoughts were on this pair of Directs from Nintendo. 

If you would like to reach out, you can reach me at [email protected] - I would love to hear from you! 

Follow me on X: @RedRoosterGC

Welcome to the Saving Throes podcast! This is my Tabletop role-playing game podcast, part of the Red Rooster's Gaming Coop network where I talk gaming and gaming culture every week. Each episode will feature a topic or theme along with my take on current happenings in the world of tabletop role-playing games and semi regular updates on the games I am currently involved with, or new games or products I have come across.

This week I am taking on some more requests for DM advice. Although these requests were not specifically aimed at me, I collected up requests from a Reddit source where DMs of all different experience levels were posting to source opinions. I provide my advice in this episode and try to bring a different perspective, especially for those who may be newer to the hobby, and bring some assumptions with them about how things should be due to their experience with 5e. Tune in to hear my advice and even the outcome one poster had after utilizing the advice they got, albeit not from me. 

If you would like to reach out, you can reach me at [email protected] - I would love to hear from you! 

Follow me on X: @RedRoosterGC

Welcome to the Pining For Pixels podcast! This is my video game variety show podcast, part of the Red Rooster's Gaming Coop network where I talk gaming and gaming culture every week. Each episode will feature a subject or theme that interests me, and I will speak about what is on my mind in the world of video games!

This week I am giving my report card on how I think Sony did with their double bill of the general State of Play and State of Play Japan. The shows were broadcast back to back, and promised to offer a huge amount of PlayStation content! I'm always excited when I see Sony making efforts to win back the Japanese gaming scene. Whenever I go into a September game presentation, I tend to try and temper my expectations, as these ones are usually closer looks at things we have already seen, sprinkled with a couple of minor new announcements for good measure. That was certainly the case here, but how did it tune out? Tune in to hear my thoughts on this year's September presentation, and which games got my attention. 

If you would like to reach out, you can reach me at [email protected] - I would love to hear from you! 

Follow me on X: @RedRoosterGC

Welcome to the Saving Throes podcast! This is my Tabletop role-playing game podcast, part of the Red Rooster's Gaming Coop network where I talk gaming and gaming culture every week. Each episode will feature a topic or theme along with my take on current happenings in the world of tabletop role-playing games and semi regular updates on the games I am currently involved with, or new games or products I have come across.

In the area that I live, we have recently had a run of unusual and relatively severe weather. I have always been interested in understanding how changes in weather occur and the science behind these things. This inspired me to talk about how weather, extreme or otherwise, and the shifting of seasons can impact your game, and more importantly, how it can be represented in your game. Weather can be a great tool to underline a certain feeling you want to convey, or to add an unexpected complication to a scenario. It is often overlooked, but when properly utilized, it can be a great tool to help your game. Tune in to hear me discuss about the ways I have utilized weather and seasons in my own games. 

If you would like to reach out, you can reach me at [email protected] - I would love to hear from you! 

Follow me on X: @RedRoosterGC