Video Game Generations

Addie is back, but she fails to properly introduce herself this time (you'll see). She also isn't impressed by my enthusiasm over the recent reveal of Fallout 4. After that and a brief news segment, it's time for a long listener email segment. One of our listeners was a long-time player of my browser-based multiplayer RPG Lunatix Online (available from 1999 to 2010), and wants to know more about its history and the decision to shut it down in his response to a recent Question of the Week about your favorite developer behind-the-scenes stories. My answer, while not as in depth as it could have been, is still pretty lengthy.

In our What We're Playing segment, Addie has nothing to share this week. For me, it's more Witcher III (PS4) and my wrap-up on a PC point-and-click adventure game I started playing years ago and finally finished, called Lost Horizon (Deep Silver and Animation Arts). I also have a brief update on progress in Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (3DS) and a recommendation for a tiny, experimental PC and DSi/3DS game called Gravitation.

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Web: http://www.vggpodcast.com

Addie is still away on vacation, but she was at least able to call in and open this week's episode. After that, Bill is here with his daughter Natalie to talk about a variety of games and recent news topics. This includes the Fallout site countdown, which -- after the recording of this episode -- has turned into the actual announcement of Fallout 4, complete with a teaser trailer (which I've already watched ten times). BEST. DAY. EVER!

Other topics of discussion include recent Nintendo 3DS announcements, the upcoming Steam summer sale, and a new Kickstarter for The Bard's Tale IV. We also go over this month's free game offerings for subscribers of Xbox Gold and Playstation Plus, which I just barely missed last week due to the timing of those announcements.

This week's pre-recorded segments are my wrap-up for Xeodrifter (3DS eShop) and my ongoing thoughts about The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (PS4). Natalie has a lot to say about the games she's been playing, which include Bastion (Xbox 360), Crossy Road (iOS) and Toca Kitchen (iOS). Aside from playing Bastion together with Natalie, Bill talks about his recent run-through of both seasons of TellTale's The Walking Dead series (Xbox 360) and Warcraft II (PC). Our one listener email this week answers last week's QotW about how you react to other people's opinions of games you've yet to play. After this, Bill wants to know what PS4 games he should play first, when he (hopefully soon) picks up a PS4. I've convinced him, easily enough, to play The Last of Us Remastered before anything else, but write in and let him know your suggestions too!

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Web: http://www.vggpodcast.com

Addie is on vacation this week, living it up at Disney World with her mom and her brother and sister. She wasn't able to be here for this week's episode, and even Plan B (calling in for it) didn't work out. She wasn't even able to call briefly just to say "hi" and introduce the show (Plan C), and since I was a little too tired to have Bill over later in the evening (Plan D) and Tracy didn't want to do it (Plan E), it's a one man show this time.

This makes it a shorter-than-normal episode, and perhaps a slightly awkward one, but at least we didn't skip a week. I read and comment on listener email and introduce a new Question of the Week. I also include my now-standard pre-recorded segment, where I give an update on progress in Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (3DS), my wrap-up on Broken Age (PS4) after getting its platinum trophy, and my lengthy opening thoughts on recently-released fantasy RPG The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (PS4).

The plan for next week may or may not include Addie, depending on how much fun she's having. There's a good chance Bill will join me for plenty of game chat. I think we'll be back to normal the week after that, provided she's back in time.

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Web: http://www.vggpodcast.com

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is here, and it's sure to consume all of my free time. I haven't actually started it yet, but since the mere mention of it made Addie stray off topic, that's this week's show title.

In listener email (one of my favorite segments each week), we read more feedback about prior weeks' topics. One listener suggests this week's Question of the Week: what are your favorite game developer stories (the story about how a game actually got made, why a game got cancelled, and other interesting behind-the-scenes stuff). Then, when another listener asks about how I started collecting games and what my goals are, I do my best to remember how it all started and explain my take on this strange hobby.

"What We're Playing" this week was Syndicate (Xbox 360) and Life is Strange Episode 3 (PS4), although those were just me. Both of us played more Broken Age (PS4), which I completed (aside from the platinum trophy). Addie also played more of Little Big Planet 3 (PS4), where her trophy-hunting efforts were mostly fruitless. After all that, Addie has two games for me to try guessing in Twenty Questions.

Our second question of the week for listeners is one that came up in my talk about Syndicate. What are the top qualities of your "favorite" games of all time? Are they of a certain genre or style? For me, the common factor seems to be that they were all games that were unlike anything I'd played before (at the time), and they were all really memorable experiences. If you have your own answer for either of our questions this week, or if you just want to write in to talk about anything we've discussed, suggest a topic, ask a question, or just say "hi" then please email us or leave us a SpeakPipe voice mail.

The next two episodes may be a little off, since Addie will be out of town on vacation with her mom. This may mean short delays in getting them recorded and posted, or Addie sounding distant due to calling in remotely, or me having a guest host, or me going it alone, or something. We'll be back on a regular schedule after that, until July 1st, when it's me who'll be out of town trying to figure out how to make the episode happen.

Email: [email protected]

Web: http://www.vggpodcast.com

It's the usual stuff this week: a little news, listener email (where two listeners submit game recommendations), and game talk in our "what we're playing" segment. I give a wrap-up on Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4) and my initial impressions of Syndicate (Xbox 360). Addie and I also talk some about Broken Age (aka The Double Fine Adventure).

We forgot to ask a Question of the Week for listeners (again), but the episode ends with a single drawn-out round of Twenty Questions. This time, Addie struggles to figure out the game I'm thinking of. Did this go well, or was it a train wreck? Listen to find out!

In addition to the podcast itself, we're now putting related videos on YouTube. So far, these are a tour of my game collection, a look at my thirty-one copies of Perfect Dark Zero, and a how-to video for a trophy in the newest Wolfenstien game. I have more ideas, and if these are popular enough, we'll continue making more.

Email: [email protected]

Web: http://www.vggpodcast.com

With no listener email or voicemail this week, we spend the episode talking about many different games. First, though, a new month means new free games with Xbox Gold and Playstation Plus, so those line-ups are covered early in the show. In game talk, Addie has been trophy hunting in Octodad: Dadliest Catch (PS4). In my pre-recorded segments, I give a (final) Bloodborne update (PS4), my first impressions of Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PS4), and a wrap-up on fun Metroid-inspired indie game Axiom Verge (PS4).

Heath, Addie's younger brother, is with us briefly to talk about some of his recent favorites, including Lego Batman 3 (Xbox 360), Portal 2 Co-Op (Xbox 360), Super Smash Bros. (WiiU), and Little Big Planet 3 (PS4). Following that, we play two rounds of Twenty Questions, where Addie thinks of games that I have to guess.

Our Question of the Week for listeners is a little uninspired, but hopefully will lead to a few good responses. Is there a game you'd like to recommend to other listeners? Maybe one you've been playing recently, which doesn't get enough attention elsewhere? What's the game, and why do you like it?

Email: [email protected]

Web: http://www.vggpodcast.com

Being better prepared this week, we start out by talking about several recent bits of news and current events, including the Golden Week sale on PSN, and GameStop testing the waters of retro game sales. Then, in our listener feedback segment, we have one long email to read and discuss (thanks, Pawel!)

In game discussion, it's entirely me this week. Addie didn't have anything new to share, but I finished Shadow Warrior (PS4) and Soul of Darkness (DSiWare), so I give my wrap-up on both. Aside from quick updates on other games that I didn't really play much since last time, I have opening thoughts on Axiom Verge (PS4) -- a Super Metroid-inspired indie 2D action/exploration game with more complicated controls than the series that inspired it.

The show ends in an extended segment where we try something a little different. Rather than a multiple choice quiz, we play two rounds of 20 Questions. Addie tries to guess the games I'm thinking of by asking yes/no questions to narrow it down. This segment is a work in progress, but we may bring it back next week with the roles reversed. Wish me luck!

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Web: http://www.vggpodcast.com

This week, we start off talking about magic tricks and Star Wars. After a little news, we read this episode's listener email, where last week's questions are answered and we find out some about PC adventure game Gemini Rue.

The rest of the episode is all about what we're playing. I give my wrap-up on Bloodborne (PS4), an update on Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (3DS) and Soul of Darkness (DSi), and initial impressions of Shadow Warrior (PS4) after playing through the first half. Addie played some co-op in Never Alone (PS4) with younger brother Heath, which is free with Playstation Plus this month. Heath and I also finished the last of the co-op levels in Portal 2's Peer Review DLC (Xbox 360), so we talk about that and about Addie's progress in the first Portal. She also started playing graphic adventure game Edna & Harvey: The Breakout (PC), which is the predecessor to Harvey's New Eyes (which she already finished, months ago).

Still no quiz prepared for this week, so I turned it into this week's listener question. Suggest a topic for a quiz, or if you want, send us all the questions for a quiz of your own! You can email us, or use SpeakPipe and I'll chop it up into segments and put them in interactively.

Email: [email protected]

Web: http://www.vggpodcast.com

Bill is back again, to talk about a number of recently-played games, including Red Dead Redemption and its Undead Nightmare expansion (Xbox 360), Valiant Hearts (iPad version), Heroes Rise (an interactive novella / choose-your-own-adventure trilogy), and Beyond Good & Evil HD (Xbox 360 - and we speculate on whether or not we'll ever see BG&E 2). Before that, I include a pre-recorded segment where I give a brief update on my time spent in Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. (3DS), my initial thoughts on DSiWare game Soul of Darkness, and my current thoughts on BloodBorne (PS4) after many more hours spent to bring me near the end of the game.

Somewhere in the middle, Addie talks briefly about a new iOS game she discovered, and Bill's daughter Natalie tells us a little about the first episode of TellTale's Sam & Max Season 2 (Beyond Time and Space).

It's another week with no quiz, but we do have two new Questions of the Week. First, have you ever made your own meta-game within a game? For instance, going around pretending to arrest people for ridiculous reasons in Sleeping Dogs (The Year of the Snake expansion). Second, what are your thoughts on first person versus third person games? Do you have a preference, and why? If you have comments or feedback on either of these topics, or on anything else we've discussed (or, just to say "hi"), please send us an email or leave us a voice message on SpeakPipe.

Email: [email protected]

Web: http://www.vggpodcast.com

No news, no quiz, no SpeakPipe yet, but we have plenty of game talk, including my lengthy opening thoughts on PS4 exclusive BloodBorne. I also give my wrap-up on the post-game content in Sleeping Dogs (PS4 Definitive Edition), and a bit about The Guardian Legend (a classic NES game I've been playing off and on for a few weeks, on Retron5). Addie gives her Portal 2 (Xbox 360) single-player wrap-up, her initial thoughts on the original Portal, an update on her progress in Costume Quest 2 (PS4), and a bit about a puzzle game called Back to Bed (iOS).

Before all that, we read this week's listerner email, which includes more wish-list hopes for the next Fallout game. Our question of the week also comes from this week's email. What are your thoughts on game characters crossing over into other games, where they may not necessarily belong? Suggest a game where this worked, or where it didn't, and we'll discuss on a future episode.

The ending music this week is a selection of MIDI arrangements of a few tunes from The Guardian Legend. The game does have great 8-bit music, and much more than I've included here. Enjoy!

Email: [email protected]

Web: http://www.vggpodcast.com