Video Game Generations

Halloween is almost here, and to celebrate, how about playing a browser-based text adventure game I wrote a couple of years ago? It's called Hallowmoor, and can be found at the link below.

Listener email makes up a big part of this week's episode. This includes another recommendation for a great turn-based strategy game, answers to prior questions of the week, a recommendation for the Nintendo Quest documentary, questions about the best tools and tutorials for game development, and our most anticipated upcoming games. We also have a new quiz this week, in which Addie tries to define various game-related terms.

In my pre-recorded segments, I have a brief update on Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (Vita), wrap-ups for Life is Strange: Episode 5 (PS4) and The Talos Principle (PS4), and my opening thoughts on Assassin's Creed: Syndicate (PS4). Addie hopes to play more this week, but didn't have anything to discuss this time around.

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Find links and show notes at
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Several listeners wrote in this week to answer our last two Questions of the Week. They also suggest new segments we might try on future episodes, so we're giving it all some thought. One includes an idea for a future quiz, which we might have done this week except that Addie came prepared with a "back-of-the-box challenge" for me. We do that late in the episode.

News gets sidetracked when I start explaining the potential voice actors' strike to Addie. This also makes the foundation for our new Question of the Week. Basically, what's your take on the requests (demands?) from their union (SAG-AFTRA) as part of their contract negotiations with publishers/developers? Does all of it seem fair, or are they valuing their own contributions above the hard work that so many others provide in game development?

Heath's Mini-Gamers segment returns after a long break with Episode 6. This includes his rapid-fire thoughts on Yoshi's Woolly World (WiiU), Chibi-Robo: Zip Lash (3DS), and more. Addie also has her own opening thoughts about Yoshi's Woolly World, and about The Talos Principle (PS4). After this, in my pre-recorded segment, I go into more details (as spoiler-free as I can make it) about the general gameplay and puzzle structure in The Talos Principle.

Closing out the episode is one of the many calming, interesting songs from The Talos Principle soundtrack. So kick back for this longer-than-normal episode of Videogame Generations.

Have feedback? Write to us at
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Find links and show notes at
http://www.vggpodcast.com

This week sees the one-time return of a previously-abandoned segment, after we fail to have a quiz prepared. Before that, it's news, listener feedback, and a new Question of the Week. If you had to live in the game world of the last game you played, would you survive? Would it be a nightmare? Just how doomed would you be?

Addie had no games to talk about this week, but in my pre-recorded segments I have a wrap-up for Resident Evil Revelations 2 (PS4), an update on Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (Vita), and a review of Lords of the Fallen (PS4), which I played through to completion over my extended holiday weekend. This week's ending music is from the theme to Lords of the Fallen, which you can also find on YouTube at the link below.

Have feedback? Write to us at
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Find links and show notes at
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It's time again for another episode of Videogame Generations. This week, after a little news (which includes the October free games lineup for PlayStation Plus and Xbox Games With Gold) and listener email, we turn our attention to what we're playing. For Addie, it's mostly Rock Band 2 (Xbox 360), but she also tried a new board game-like mode in the updated version of Castle Crashers (Xbox One). My pre-recorded segments include opening thoughts on Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (Vita), a wrap-up on Resident Evil Remake HD (PS4), and quite a bit of detail on the gameplay in Resident Evil Revelations 2 (PS4), which I'm very much enjoying.

This week's quiz challenges Addie (and listeners) to guess the console family that's home to each of twenty games of a series; Nintendo, Xbox, or PlayStation? As for a Question of the Week for listeners, we're sticking with what we asked last week. Is there a well-known landmark kind of game that you've just never played? Write in and let us know what major or historically important game you've never actually played, and whether or not you think you ever will.

Have feedback? Write to us at
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Find links and show notes at
http://www.vggpodcast.com

Not featured in this week's episode are the October 2015 free Games with Gold and Playstation Plus offerings. I forgot to look them up, but we'll do that next time. The PS Plus games weren't announced until after we recorded, I think, so I at least deserve a pass for those. What is featured includes a little news, lots of listener email answering prior weeks' questions, and a new quiz. This time, Addie must guess "Game or Game Studio" with a bonus point possible for each of the twenty questions.

In game chat, we talk a little more about Super Mario Maker (WiiU), and Addie has been playing a lot of Plants vs. Zombies on her Nook. In my two separate pre-recorded segments, I have a wrap-up for Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (Vita), a review of inFamous: First Light (PS4), and lengthy opening thoughts on Resident Evil HD (PS4). This game also inspires our Question of the Week. Is there a well-known landmark kind of game that you've just never played? Resident Evil was a big one missing from my gaming history, but there are others. Write in and let us know yours!

This week's ending music comes from the Plants vs. Zombies music video, which sort of gets stuck in your head. If you've never heard this song before, then now's your chance. But don't say I didn't warn you.

Have feedback? Write to us at
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Find links and show notes at
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Our feature this week is all about the games releasing in the final few months of 2015. Afterwards, we talk a little about which ones we're most excited for. Write in and let us know what game you're most looking forward to in the remainder of 2015, and why.

Before all of that, one listener wants to know our opinions on limited edition consoles. That's also our second Question of the Week for listeners. Write in and let us know how you feel about limited edition consoles. Do you own one? Do you collect them? If you don't have an opinion on any of these things, just write in with feedback about anything else we've discussed, or start a new topic.

No quiz this week, but we have plenty of game talk. Addie is still preparing for a Minecraft battle against a friend, plus she gives her initial impressions of Max and the Curse of Brotherhood (Xbox One). It was released several months ago, and younger brother Heath has played it quite a bit, but it was a first for Addie. In my pre-recorded segment, I have a spoiler-free wrap-up for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4) and I go into detail about the gameplay mechanics of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (Vita), which I've been hooked on for the past two weeks.

We didn't get to have a Super Mario Maker marathon like we planned, but Heath did complete a simple level he calls "Mine in the dark." It's no award-winner, and is really simplistic overall, but he's proud of it nonetheless. In the game, its ID is A679-0000-0058-552B.

Have feedback? Write to us at
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Find links and show notes at
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This week's episode is a little on the shorter side at just over fifty minutes. We didn't have a news segment this week, and our only real tangent topic was about how to properly pronounce .GIF. We did get one response to last week's listener question -- tell us about your most recent gaming marathon -- so we're opting to leave that out there for one more week in case other listeners would like to write in about it.

Late in the episode, Addie and I take the Ultimate PlayStation Quiz. I think we would have done much better given a little more time to read, think, and discuss the possible answers. Before that, in our What We're Playing segment, we have initial thoughts on the new WiiU exclusive Super Mario Maker. My impressions are from watching Addie's younger brother Heath try it out briefly. Oh, and speaking of Heath, he may be back next week with a new episode of Mini-Gamers, but that's also absent this week.

Addie also has a story to tell about her own weekend gaming marathon, where she and a friend are building rival houses in Minecraft (Xbox 360) with a plan to declare war on each other in survival mode soon. For me, it was more Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4), DanganRonpa (Vita), and a review of an interactive fiction game (or "text adventure") called PataNoir (available free on PC, and very cheap on iOS or Android).

Have feedback? Write to us at
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Find links and show notes at
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Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4) dominates this week's pre-recorded review segment. I still have many hours yet to play, but my opening thoughts are highly favorable. Before this, I give a brief wrap-up on Adventures of Pip (PS4) after earning all its trophies, and my brief opening thoughts on DanganRonpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (PlayStation Vita). Addie talks a bit about A World of Keflings (Xbox 360), and together we wrap up discussion on Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris (PS4), after finishing it this past weekend.

Before all that, we have listener email and some news, which includes an ongoing sale of games on the PlayStation Network and a few recent game announcements. Later, Addie tries to guess "cartoon character or video game developer" in this week's quiz. We're also looking for answers to this week's listener question. Is there a game you had fun binge-playing? For instance, some weekend gaming marathon or day-and-night play of some game over a holiday break or while sick at home? Email us and tell us about it!

Also, if you haven't already rated and reviewed us on iTunes or Stitcher, we'd really, really appreciate it. It would help our visibility tremendously -- or so I've heard -- if we could get more ratings. I've seen other podcasts go from obscure to insanely popular over a matter of days or weeks, and even though we're not the greatest show out there in podcast land, I don't think we're the worst. :)

Have feedback? Write to us at
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Find links and show notes at
http://www.vggpodcast.com

We don't have much news this week, but there is plenty to talk about in our listener email segment: the critical reception of Alien: Isolation and Thief; the merits of Deadly Premonition; the possible staying power of Fallout Shelter; cartoons. And that's all from the same email!

In my pre-recorded segment, I talk briefly about Adventures of Pip (PS4) and Suikoden II (PS1). Then, after a post-game wrap-up for Grabbed by the Ghoulies (Rare Replay, Xbox One), I give a spoiler-free review of recent cinematic horror game Until Dawn (PS4). Basically, it's pretty awesome.

We end the show with a quiz, but this time it's one we found online. It's touted as being for "true gamers" but turns out to be... well, just listen and you'll see. Suffice it to say that the quiz's author was having a little bit of fun with the concept, perhaps making a point as to how silly it is that some gamers mistake their opinions as facts.

Have feedback? Write to us at
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Find links and show notes at
http://www.vggpodcast.com

It's a guest-filled episode this week, with returning guest Bill here with us to chat about several game topics. Mini-Gamers, Heath's mini-podcast, also makes a return for its fifth episode, with his friend Timothy sitting in to talk about games they've been playing together. Bill's daughter Natalie also visits the show briefly, to talk about her current favorite games.

After talking about next month's free PlayStation Plus and Xbox Games with Gold, we read listener email. This prompts discussions about Fallout Shelter, Dishonored, the Nintendo NX patent rumor, and more. Our Question of the Week also comes from this week's email: What is your favorite Nintendo game or game series?

We also have plenty to talk about in our "What We're Playing" segments. For Bill, that's South Park: The Stick of Truth (Xbox 360). For Natalie, Relic Run (iOS) and Layton Brothers Mystery Room (iOS). For Addie, LittleBigPlanet 3 (PS4) and Power Lines (PC). For Heath, it's Scribblenauts Unlimited (3DS), 2006 FIFA World Cup (Xbox 360), Pac-Man 256 (Fire TV), Fighter Physics (Fire TV), Lego Jurassic World (Xbox 360), and Minecraft (PS4).

In my pre-recorded segments, I give a wrap-up on Alien: Isolation (PS4) by talking briefly about the Crew Expendable DLC, plus my closing thoughts on The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (3DS) after finishing it this past weekend. I also have opening thoughts on two games I started. These are Adventures of PIP (PS4) and Grabbed by the Ghoulies from the Rare Replay collection (Xbox One).

Finally, a huge thank-you to long-time listener Jason, who supplied us with another fun quiz. Our challenge is to guess if each of ten descriptions identifies a cartoon from the late 80's and early 90's, or a video game. If possible, we must also name the show or game. Bill guesses along with Addie and me.

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