Video Game Purists

Meet Heidi. She is sometimes known as "stopXwhispering" and she runs the site retro-video-gaming.com. Oh that? Well she also has amassed an impressive collection of over 200 consoles, 5300+ games, and designed that sweet game room. With all that in mind, we just had to interview her and see how she views video games as both a player and a collector. It's a great conversation that puts the balance of collecting and gaming into perspective.

This week Fred gets stuck at work so Jam takes over hosting duties and teams up with 42 Level One's Andy to discuss games that need to come back.  Now they are both European, so expect a good deal of Sega titles as well as some audience participation.  Actually Fred is a little worried he may no longer have a job, guess we'll see next week.

This week Fred is joined by special guest Rob "Trees" (formerly of EZ Mode Unlocked and GH101 alum) to ask, "What's your favorite game?"  They gather answers from the listeners and then have some fun with them.

One of BioWare's largest gaming achievements would have to be Mass Effect.  In the follow-up to Jade Empire, and after 3 years of development, the original premiered on Xbox 360 and established the closest example to Star Trek in gaming.  An entire universe was literally developed for the series and despite some stumbles here and there, the Mass Effect series is of the most notable from last generation.  Join Fred, Jam, and special guest Me10dee as they delve into the world of Commander Shepard.

Part 2 of this week's episode continues with Fred and Jam discussing the move into 3D and divergence from the original trilogy.  As Star Wars titles moved into the 90s, they included worlds, characters, and settings found outside the movies and either in the creator's mind or in the expanded universe told through books.

This week technical difficulties continue to plague the live show and cut it short (however you'll notice nothing on the recorded show other than length).  Despite this, Fred and Jam start to tackle the history of Star Wars games and get rather far before time is up.  Fortunately they will continue the show later this week in a second part and hopefully all will be fixed for next week's live show.

This week Fred and Jam are discussing the publisher Working Designs, best known for bringing many non-traditional Japanese titles over to the West complete with heavy localization.  Thanks in part to president Victor Ireland, Working Designs is responsible for key titles in the libraries of the Turbografx-16 (and CD), Sega CD, Saturn, Playstation, and Playstation 2. 

This week Fred and Jam wrap up Majora's Mask with the final two dungeons, the ending, and probably the biggest draw to the game, the side quests.  It's a lengthy discussion that goes down to the wire but definitely demonstrates a game that while not appreciated in its time but can have a second life now.

The recent re-release of one of the Legend of Zelda series more unique entries, Majora's Mask, sparked our interest enough to do a game club on a title none of us had honestly played.  We got more than we bargained for with a unique and enchanting title that we were only able to discuss the first half of in this week's show.  Part 1 deals with the development, release, and intro to the game through the second dungeon, with the end and side quests coming next week.

This week Fred and Jam talk about Nintendo's random and rare add-on for the Nintendo 64 that only released in Japan, the 64 DD.  A compression disk drive that allowed various forms of software and accessories that were quite forward thinking when announced in 1995 but ultimately was anitquated when it finally premiered in 1999.  With some of the most versatile and interesting software of the late 90s, the 64 DD is not simply an add-on to display on a shelf (although that's what most do with it).