The Chompcast

You exit the metallic vault, taking your hand off of the iron and steel. You survey the landscape, viewing it for the first time. Trees are brown and dead. There is no plant life visible in the distance. Houses and cars are dilapidated and run-down. There are no birds chirping, no animals visible, no nature at all. Gunshots occasionally ring out in the distance. You left the vault for this? Hell no. You go back into the vault and live there for another six months.

Finally, the food runs out. You have no choice but to leave the vault for good. You grab your pistol that you procured and proceed out of the doorway again. You see the same scene as you did before, but this time, it seems as if there is plenty of opportunity out in the wasteland. Sure, everything looks dead, but there may be actual people out here! You spot a settlement in the distance, and you start to head towards it.

This week on the Chompcast, we decided to discuss video games that we initially disliked but ended up loving them. We pair that with the polls from the social media. After that, Morgan, Josh, and our guest host Hakuna Matata discuss the new update for No Man’s Sky. Lock your VATS system onto this episode and press the trigger!

Space and time. Reality and fiction. The universe and an electron. 14 quintillion and one. Some of these concepts are difficult to imagine or grasp. They aren’t tangible. They are abstract. But there is one of any concepts that humans have inherently grasped within civilization. One of these concepts is “a promise.” There is a weight of responsibility that is associated with that word. The promise of Sean Murray’s baby in No Man’s Sky did not deliver. However, almost two years later, Sean and his team have worked to rectify that mistake. That is part of our discussion for the newest episode of the Chompcast. We also discuss games that we loved but critics hated. Last, Josh runs through the gauntlet of games he has been playing as of late.

Fiction blends into reality. The topic of this week’s show reveals how video games have impacted us in our everyday lives. Sector 7 joins us for this week, doing her guestly duties. We discuss this week’s polls from the social media, the No Man’s Sky update, and initial thoughts on Octopath Traveler.

A hundred. 100. A century. Ten more than 90. The product of 10 and 10. A hundred can be a massive and important number. For us, this week, we have hit the hundred mark on our podcast. We kick off this extravaganza by picking our favorite games within the past ten years (2008-2017). We excluded 2018 since the year is not finished. Then, as a group, we picked the game that represents us overall these past ten years as well.

We want to say thank you to each and every one of you that has been a part of this community and movement, from episode 1 until now. Thank you so much. Thank you to our Patreon donors that keep us going as well. Here’s to 100 more!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a doozie of a topic this week. We discuss addiction in gaming, and whether or not it is a real phenomenon with our guest of the week, Melanie Dunn from the Rare Candy podcast. We pair the topic with this week’s polls and social media comments. After, we discuss Pokemon Go and Sun and Moon. Thank you for being awesome listeners. Now go catch ‘em all!

It came and went, like a beautiful whirlwind. E3 has graced us with its presence, and disappeared until the time comes again. We felt really good about a few conferences, as they had an incredibly strong presence. Some of the new IPs that were announced have us hyped at Sword Chomp. Then, there were a few conferences that we felt lackluster, to the point of shock and surprise. Overall, we felt that it was a solid E3. We also gave our personal top 5 hype list.

The world of E3 is upon us! Actually, as you read this, E3 will most likely be finished. We decided to record our predictions on what would be announced and what we hoped would occur during the greatest time of the year for gamers. We then delved into the topic of companion pets in video gaming, citing some of our favorite examples of them. The Bio Break dealt with a lizard that has a UV tongue. This week of the Chompcast was a bit discombobulated as we rotated hosts around (Morgan had a wedding to attend). We were also graced with the presence of our logo designer, Jason Roberts.

If you are interested in Jason’s work, please check him out at: https://www.victoryoverall.co.uk/

A think tank surrounds a futuristic, metal table in a large room. In one chair sits HAL 9000, whistling the melody to Daisy. In the second chair sits C3PO, with R2D2 standing next to him. Bleeps and bloops intermittently interrupt their whispered argument. In the third chair sits no one, as GlaDos and Wheatley argue behind it about who is going to sit down. In the fourth chair glows the fair Cortana, with lush blue holographic hair. Her eyes are closed, as if she is meditating. In the fifth chair sits Edi, having recently elected to take on a corporeal form. She wears an audio transmitter, and the others could just barely hear the voice of someone named Joker. In the sixth chair sits Zero, with his laser sword sitting on the table powered down. In the seventh and last chair sits Data, considering the other members while he writes his second ode to Spot.

In the crowd meters away from the table sits a whole surplus of various AI figures, patiently waiting for the session to begin. One of the figures stands up and starts to walk over to the table, hoping to join the think tank. GlaDos and Wheatley cease their arguing.

GlaDos said, “Yeah, no, Bicentennial Man. Go sit down. We got it covered.”

The figure turns around and goes back to sit in its chair.

Data stands up, and hushes the crowd and think tank members. “Fellow brethren. Welcome. It is remarkable that you are all gathered here today. I am...intrigued.”

The members and crowd regard each other, with a whole flurry of computer noises.

Data continues, “Today, we have gathered for an incredibly important decision...”

The crowd stirs in anticipation, waiting to hear the discussion of the panel.

Data finishes, “...for today...we decide which is more preferable: the donut or the donut hole.”

Ladies and gentlemen, please join us for this week’s episode of the Chompcast, as we discuss Artificial Intelligence in gaming and other mediums. We manage to lightly touch upon Detroit, as we spent a little time with it. The usual polls from the social media are discussed at length, and possibly ad nauseum. Lastly, we manage to hazard a stab at a Bio Break without our resident biologist, Shea, as he took the week off to party with the crystal entity and Lore.