Video Game Generations

In this episode, I list off the line-up of free November games for XBox Gold and PlayStation Plus subscribers, and then we read listener emails that answer our prior weeks' questions. Addie talks about the games she's playing (more Costume Quest 2, but also several little games from KetchApp on iOS) and I once again pre-recorded mine so that Addie wouldn't have to sit through twenty minutes of me-time (The Evil Within on PS4, a bit more Final Fantasy X, and Ultima VI: The False Prophet for SNES via the Retron5).

Our big topic of the week is the Internet Arcade, where you can play classic arcade games, for free, in your web browser. We stumble our way through a few of those. Then, almost forgetting it entirely, we come up with an on-the-spot Question of the Week for listeners. What's your favorite video game music? It's a topic we've talked about on prior episodes, but we haven't yet heard from our listeners.

It's almost Halloween, so today's episode explores a few spooky topics. Addie tries to guess whether several games on my hand-picked list are horror-themed or not, based soley on the title. But before that, we talk about the games we're playing. That's Costume Quest 2 (PS4) for Addie and Bayonetta 2 (WiiU) for me. I also talk briefly about The Evil Within (PS4) and Final Fantasy X (PS3), both of which I made a little more progress in since the last episode. With listener email and a little news too, this episode comes in right about an hour long. Oh, and this week's question for our listeners is a simple one. What are your favorite scary games?

It's a big, big episode today, with Bill (from Episode 12) sitting in with us again to talk games and stuff. More listeners answer prior weeks' questions in our listener feedback segment, and Bill has a few answers of his own. For what I've been playing since the last episode, I once again use pre-recorded segments to keep the main recording at a reasonable length since, as always, it's a school night for Addie -- and for Bill's daughter Natalie, who joins us briefly to talk about scary movies and video games. My monologue includes my final thoughts on Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (PS4) and 8 Eyes (NES on Retron5), as well as my opening thoughts on The Evil Within (PS4), PlayStation TV (a "Vita" for your TV), and KillZone: Liberation (a PSP game I started playing on PSTV).

A third pre-recorded segment features Heath, Addie's younger brother. He talks with me about Portal 2 (XBox 360), Gauntlet and Gauntlet II (NES on Retron5), Pix the Cat (PS4), and of course, Minecraft (PS4). He does a great job of confusing me about which topic we're actually discussing, although maybe he's just messing with me on purpose. Also, Natalie sits in with us to talk about movies (Frankenstein, Hotel Transylvania, and Ghostbusters) and games (Disney Universe, mostly). She decides to skip out on the next topic (educational kids' games), but Bill, Addie and I have suggestions on quality educational games for any listeners out there with younger children.

A discussion between Bill and me on Borderlands 2 morphs into a comparison between the Borderlands series, Dead Island, and RAGE. In fact, we spend quite a bit of time talking about RAGE, even though neither of us played it recently.

We have two listener questions of the week, so if you have an opinion on either or both of these things, please please write in and let us know your thoughts (we're [email protected]). This week, we want to know what game blew your mind when you first played it, because it seemed so revolutionary and new; one that opened your mind to a kind of gaming experience you didn't even know was possible. We also want to hear about your favorite mini-games from a full-sized game: card games, board games, or other unique mini-games, such as the card games found in Ni no Kuni or RAGE.

This episode ends with sections of three MIDI arrangements from NES games featured this week: 8 Eyes, Friday the 13th and Gauntlet. This episode's title has a double meaning (Heath's advice for Pix the Cat, but also a tie-in for the latest episode of Doctor Who).

After a little off-topic TV talk, we read and respond to listener feedback, which includes a few fun answers to last week's questions for our listeners. I give some recommendations for horror-themed Wii on-rails shooters, and then it's a pre-recorded bit where I talk about what I've been playing: Time Lord (NES), Little Nemo: The Dream Master (NES), 8 Eyes (NES), and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (PS4). Somewhere in there, Addie and I confuse each other as to the plot and characters in Kingdom Hearts.

After that, we introduce a new segment where Addie takes a game-related quiz. This one tests her judgment in figuring out which game in several pairs takes longer to beat. Then, we talk about video game nostalgia, and why kids don't really have an attachment to vintage games. Our Question of the Week for listeners has an upside and a downside: Which game genres do you prefer, and which do you avoid?

This week's outro music is a vgmusic.com MIDI arrangement of Chapter 1 from Little Nemo: The Dream Master.

In this episode, we list off this month's Playstation Plus free games, and then I launch into a rant about Amazon. We read listener feedback too, during which we discuss possible changes to our format in the effort to balance podcasting with Addie's school life. We still haven't made any solid decisions there.

Then we talk about the games we've been playing. Addie and Heath played more Minecraft (PS4) in split-screen co-op mode. They both played a little puzzle game called Blok Drop U (WiiU), which I got for free from @IndieGamerChick on Twitter. I introduced Addie to her very first NES game, Sky Kid, which we played for only a few minutes in two-player mode, and her very first Gameboy Advance game, Super Mario World (a re-release of the SNES classic), although we played on the Retron5 (her idea) and only for a couple levels. I give some opening thoughts on Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, which I haven't played much but have enjoyed so far. Then it's NES nostalgia with the Retron5. In the past week, I played through Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight and Fester's Quest, and I started playing Time Lord and Little Nemo: The Dream Master.

We have two questions of the week, so please feel free to email your answers and opinions so we can revisit these topics on future episodes. First, what do you think about using cheats and cheat codes in games? Second, what are your favorite non-traditional weapons used in a game? I talked a little about three games where you use the main character's own hair to fight enemies (Shantae, Bayonetta, Kabuki: Quantum Fighter), and Addie's answer was the shovel used by Shovel Knight.

Near the end, we decide to do a spur-of-the-moment lookup of the release date for Costume Quest 2 (looks like it's out now on Steam, and coming to PS4 on Halloween). There's a bit more in this episode, but you'll just have to listen. We hope you enjoy it!

Last week was our longest episode yet, and this week is our shortest, due to a late start for recording. So it's a bit rushed, but -- hopefully -- we'll be more prepared for next week. In addition to a few side topics, the main talk is about NES games played on the Retron5 (Legacy of the Wizard, Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode, and The Mafat Conspiracy). I also spend a little while remembering the Castlevania series and explaining the premise to Addie, which inspired me to include some Castlevania music (MIDI versions) at the end of the episode, rather than my usual home-brewed stuff (which is nearly gone now unless I start repeating tunes from earlier episodes). I also talk a little bit about the role of the VGA (Video Game Authority?) in game collecting (hint: I'm not really a fan of that).

It's a longer-than-usual episode when my friend Bill sits in to talk about games (with an emphasis on PC gaming). Games discussed include Rogue Legacy, the Fallout series, Nintendoland, Payday 2, Spelunky, and FTL (Faster Than Light). Other topics include Darkadia (a website to help manage and share your game inventory), the Oculus Rift, bad game endings, and the RetroN5. Future episodes may dig a little deeper into the back catalog of NES, SNES, Genesis, and GameBoy games, now that I have a great way to play them again. Addie is suspiciously quiet for much of this episode; the unfortunate side effect of Bill and I talking about games she has no interest in. Hopefully she'll be more talkative and interested next week. As for last week's listener topic, no replies meant no additional discussion, and we were so wrapped up in general game chat that we didn't have a new Question of the Week for Episode 12.

Our off-topic intro segment delves into the latest episode of Doctor Who, "Listen", which we discuss a little more than usual this week (but as un-spoilery as we can). News is brief as usual, centering mostly on Microsoft's purchase of Minecraft developer Mojang. I read off a 30-day Playstation Plus code which can be redeemed by a Playstation owner (Vita, PS3, or PS4) who isn't already a Plus subscriber, and then we get into this week's email. Several listeners offer great answers to some of our recent Questions of the Week.

Games discussed this week include Fallout 3's expansion Operation: Anchorage, an XBOX Live Indie Game (XBLIG) called 2D World Creator, Rogue Legacy on PS4 and Vita, and of course, Destiny. Addie played some of an iPhone game called Watercolors (from Adonis Software), which looks to be a unique and colorful puzzler.

In general gaming topics, I talk about my top three original NES sports games, and then I launch into a lengthy explanation of what "Interactive Fiction" is (because I hope to play and talk about the 2014 IFComp entries next month). Our Question of the Week invites listeners to explain why Twitch game streaming and YouTube gameplay videos have become a thing. I don't quite get it.

Classic NES games are up for discussion again, as serveral listeners answer last week's question of the week. Then, we have much to talk about regarding the games we've played since last time, which include Sports Friends (PS4), Minecraft (PS4), Metrico (Vita), Final Fantasy X (PS3) and a little more Broken Sword 5 (Vita). I give my closing thoughts after finishing Phantom Dust (XBOX) and Kid Icarus: Uprising (3DS). We wrap up the segment with me again expressing how much I enjoy Fallout 3 (XBOX 360), which I've returned to for its many expansions. Under-appreciated, underrated games have been on my mind, so I give a short list of a few really great games that many others either dislike or don't feel strongly about one way or the other. Our first question of the week is what games do you love, yet seemingly everybody else hates? If you don't have any, we have a second question. How wrapped up are you in getting achievements or trophies in games? Not at all? A little? Take it or leave it? Totally obsessed? Our brief discussion about Minecraft was before we saw the Minecraft-Microsoft rumor, so bear that in mind. Also, the Ducktales theme song has a video featuring ducks, not sung by ducks, which makes much more sense.

Episode 9 is a bit on the shorter side this week, at just forty minutes long. Addie had her 9th birthday since the last episode, so we talk some about her mystery-themed party. After a bit more off-topic talk, we do "time travel" -- the segment where we revist topics from a prior episode or correct the mistakes we made -- and with so much forgetfulness last week, there's a fair bit to talk about. For news, we keep it short and simple as usual; we talk about the "New 3DS" announced by Nintendo. Then we go through the list of free games (with PlayStation Plus or XBox Gold) available for September, and we read more listener email (a big thank-you to everybody who wrote in). One listener puts me to shame with her level of support for various Kickstarter projects, in an answer to last week's Question of the Week. Addie talks briefly about the games she's playing on PC, although it was a busy week for her with birthday activities and school taking up most of her time. My focus is on Phantom Dust (XBOX) and the new Profession Layton vs. Phoenix Wright (3DS). I give a few recommendations for fantasy action/adventure games I enjoyed many years ago on the NES, and pose a new Question of the Week -- what are your favorite NES games (of any type or genre) or NES game recommendations?