1UP.com - 1UP Radio: Recent Episodes
1UP Staff
1UP Radio is the leading voice of the videogame community. Powered by the editors and personalities of the 1UP Network, the 1UP Radio podcast family covers the games industry from every possible angle. Start your week with the humor and insight of EGM Live* and GFW Radio, and continue on with the accessible, yet knowledgable Legendary Thread, Sports Anamoly and Retronauts. Then start your weekend right with 1UP Yours, the definitive videogame talk show. With multiple new episodes hitting every week, 1UP Radio is all you need to feed your gaming fix.
This week we put together a show that ties into our site's cover story theme, "It Came From Outer Space." Join host Jose Otero along with guests Bob Mackey, Marty Sliva, IGN's Ryan McCaffery for games discussion. And check out a special interview segment with Marcus Lindblom, one of the localizers behind a beloved Super Nintendo game called Earthbound.
This week on our yet unnamed podcast, we talk about Dead Space 3 and Fire Emblem: Awakening with lots of special guests. Tune in for the vocal contributions of Jose Otero, Mitch Dyer, Jeremy Parish, Destin Leguire, Bob Mackey, and Marty Sliva.
We haven't settled on a new name for this podcast yet, but we have a great show for you this week. First up, a very special 1UP Direct, as we discuss this morning's Nintendo news with Richard George from IGN's Nintendo channel. After that, Gamespy's Dan Stapleton sits down with me for a special interview with Jake Solomon, the lead designer of XCOM: Enemy Unknown.
Kat, Marty, and Bob sit down to talk about Mass Effect 3, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Xenoblade Chronicles, Diablo III, and many of the other notable RPGs of 2012. Which ones were the best, and which ones fell short? Find out!
This week, Games, Dammit! talks all about the Wii U. In our first segment, Wired's Chris Kohler joins 1UP's Jose Otero to talk about the launch and a feature Chris recently wrote called, "Ten Things I Hate About Wii U." Afterwards, Bob Mackey and Marty Sliva chime in with their impressions of the games currently available for the system.
Was the Wii secretly a great console for RPGs? Kat, Bob, and Marty look back on the Wii's RPG library and look ahead to the future of the Wii U.
This week, 1UP takes a break from talking about strictly video games to bring you a one-of-a-kind discussion about the biggest anime ever made in Japan. That's right, this episode is all about Evangelion, as the third rebuild of the series makes it ways to Japanese theaters. 1UP's Jose Otero, Jeremy Parish, and Bob Mackey are joined by Christian Nutt, features editor for Gamasutra.com, as they deep dive into a discussion about EVA, what it brought to video games, and ponder some of the most divisive topics in the series fiction.
After a one month hiatus, Games, Dammit! returns with a bunch of special guests. In the first segment, host Jose Otero is joined in the studio by a pair of editor-in-chiefs. IGN's Casey Lynch and GamesBeat's Dan Hsu come in to reminisce about the Halo series and share impressions of Halo 4. In the second segment, IGN's Anthony Gallegos and 1UP's Bob Mackey join us for a Dishonored interview with Harvey Smith and Raphael Colantonio, co-creative directors at Arkane Studios.
Gamasutra's Christian Nutt joins Kat to talk Pokemon, and Kotaku's Richard Eisenbeis checks in with the latest Japanese releases.
After a week full of Resident Evil articles, host Jose Otero sits down with Bob Mackey and Alex "cvxfreak" Aniel to talk about Capcom's flagship survival-horror series and its bizarre history. Special thanks to our community members for contributing their favorite memories for this episode.
We're recording a special Resident Evil episode of Games, Dammit! and we'd like you to be a part of it. Send us a link to your SoundCloud clip and explain why you love the RE series or tell us about your favorite moment in the series. If you enter, you could win an Astro Gaming headset courtesy of Capcom. Visit 1UP.com for more instructions on how to participate.
Kat is joined by GameSpy's Mike Nelson and Dan Stapleton, as well as Polygon's Phil Kollar, to talk Torchlight II, Diablo III, Guild Wars 2, and Mists of Pandaria in this all-PC RPG episode of Active Time Babble.
Nintendo finally unveiled the price of Wii U in NYC, so we couldn;t help but focus on it for this week's episode. Join 1UP's Jose Otero, freelance contributor and Mario doppelganger Anthony Parisi, and IGN's Richard George, as they talk about the price, the games, and Nintendo TVii.
Games, Dammit! returns, but actually we're a week behind schedule. Last week, 1UP recorded our second Essential 100 podcast. Join Jose Otero, Bob Mackey, and special guests Ray Barnholt and Alex Fraioli as we talk about four games from our ongoing feature.
Kotaku correspondent Richard Eisenbeis joins Kat to discuss Dragon Quest X and Last Story, and Bob and Marty talk Darksiders II and the classic Super Mario RPG.
In this star-studded episode host Jose Otero is joined by Marty Sliva, as the duo talk about The Walking Dead Video Game with special guests Hollywood screenwriter Gary Whitta and Sean Vanaman of Telltale Games. After a quick break, Bob Mackey joins the crew, as Marty takes the lead to interview Greg Kasavin of SuperGiant Games about Bastion and video game narratives.
Kat, Bob, and Jose are joined by IGN's Eric Sapp to have an honest debate about the most prickly of topics--Kingdom Hearts. The crew also revisits The Wold Ends With You and Phantasy Star Online!
This spoiler-filled minisode of Movies, Dammit! is all about The Dark Knight Rises. Steer clear of this episode if you are wary of spoilers. IGN editors Justin Davis and Mitch Dyer join 1UP's Jose Otero and Marty Sliva in the studio for a 40-minute discussion about latest Nolan-directed Batman film.
We're celebrating the first chapter of 1UP's Essential 100 by talking about five of our selections, but we're not doing it alone. Supergiant Games Creative Director Greg Kasavin and 1UP Alum and creator of Scroll magazine Ray Barnholt join Jose Otero, Bob Mackey, and Marty Sliva in the studio for an essential podcast to complement this week's cover story.
1UP decided to pull out all the stops for our Metal Gear 25th anniversary episode. GamesRadar's Sterling McGarvey and 8-4 Play's Mark MacDonald join Jose Otero and Jeremy Parish for a spirited discussion of the Metal Gear series. As part of this 90-minute salute, you'll also hear contributions from our dedicated listeners and other special guests.
1UP wants to record an extra special tribute episode to the Metal Gear series. Join Jose Otero and Bob Mackey and find out what you can do to help.
Kat, Jeremy, and Bob get together to discuss Persona 4's Kanji Tatsumi, and the portrayal of LGBT issues in RPGs in general. Indie RPG dev Robert Boyd also drops by to chat about his newest project--Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3!
1UP's Jeremy Parish, Jose Otero, Marty Sliva, and Bob Mackey get together after a busy day at E3 2012 to talk about a lot of games. Tune in and listen to impressions of the Nintendo media briefing, Wii U, Project P-100, Resident Evil 6, Hitman Absolution, Silent Hill Book of Memories and Halo 4.
The first volume of 1UP's guerrilla podcast initiative at E3 2012. Join Jeremy Parish, Marty Sliva, and Jose Otero for a media briefings round up like no other.
E3 2012 is nearly here, and we close out our series and predictions series with a look at Sony's lineup, the challenges they must overcome, and our imperious demands.
Polygon.com's Matt Leone joins Jose Otero, Bob Mackey, and Marty Sliva for the most off-topic pre-E3 Microsoft predictions podcast ever.
Contributor Kat Bailey reunites with 1UP's Jeremy Parish and Bob Mackey to discuss Dragon's Dogma, which may be one of the most satisfying RPGs of the year. And, of course, Eric Sapp, Mike Nelson, and Dan Stapleton drop by to discuss all things Diablo. ATB is back!
If you want my future forget my past. If you wanna get with me better make it fast. Now don't go wasting my precious time get your act together we could be just fine. I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want. So tell me what you want, what you really really want! I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really... really really wanna zigazig ha.
1UP pal Kat Bailey joins Jeremy, Bob, and Marty to recap the trials and travails of Nintendo's recent past while looking ahead to our hopes and expectations for the company's E3 showing. Also, Mario and stuff.
Gaijinworks' Victor Ireland joins Jeremy, Bob, and Christian Nutt to discuss the thinking behind and challenges ahead of his company's RPG localization Kickstarter venture.
No edits. No pauses. 100% real beef. OK, we were all out of town, so Bob and Jose helped us upload this.
Remakes, re-releases, and re-imaginings -- which is the best way to spend your new money on old things? On this episode of Games, Dammit, Bob Mackey, Jose Otero, and Marty Sliva discuss the many methods of moving old experiences to new formats, and the possible problems that can crop up along the way.
J13 really is an unlucky number as this 13th episode was rendered completely obsolete before it was published. Neat! Please enjoy guest Dan Stapleton on this totally moot discussion about what creators owe us vis-a-vis the Mass Effect 3 ending debate.
Jeremy and Thierry kidnap IGN's Sam Claiborn and drag him beyond the Omega-4 Relay to extract his pulpy Mass Effect 3 knowledge. No plot thread is left unspoiled. Seriously, this episode is 100% spoilers. We're not kidding.
We tried something a bit different-freestylin! I'm the best mang, I did it. Skyrim, Morgan Freeman, Pizza Hut proposal and naked man wants McD's.
Jeremy, Thierry, and Jose share their thoughts on Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. There's also talk of football, which is weird given that Reckoning was bankrolled by a baseball star, but whatevs.
Kept you waiting, huh? We're back in action with this long-delayed episode. IGN's Stephanie Lee joins Jeremy Parish, Thierry Nguyen, and Ryan Winterhalter to talk about BioWare's new(-ish) Star Wars MMO.
The Oddcast is back! Sam, Tina, Sharkey, and Bobby come together to talk about Star Wars, Call of Duty, and Donkey Semen?! Yeah, that really happened.
In this era of social games and cheap iOS apps, do dedicated portable systems like Vita and 3DS stand a fighting chance? Jeremy, Jose, and Matt discuss.
Jeremy, Bob, and Jose reconvene in the studio to field listener write-ins about the year ahead. Eventually, Thierry wanders in and every shares their own aspirations for 2012. It's an episode brimming with expectation! And stuff.
Much like last year, frequent Oddcast contributor tolecover has made another holiday mix. It's less 'holiday' and more mix. Except maybe the part after Ballsrog humming 'Jingle Bells.' Anyway, hope you like it. Have a happy holiday.
With 2011 about to be yanked off life support, your friendly neighborhood 1UP crew gathers to reflect on the year's rad haps. And the bad ones, too. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you (or talk at you) in the new year.
In this mercifully brief episode, Jeremy Parish, Matt Leone, and Thierry Nguyen go free-form to discuss holiday gaming memories and realize they have none. Well, except for a really heartbreaking one belonging to Matt.
Alan Wake has a weird name in Europe, Pigeon Dating Sim, Miyamoto makes fanboys cry, Vietnamese FPS (wait what), South Park RPG, and what what in the butt!
Game music! What's up with that? Jeremy Parish, Bob Mackey, and Marty Sliva do their best Seinfeld routines while discussing the past, present, and future (OK, just the past and present) of the medium. Genre. Whatever. P.S., if you hate hearing music in podcasts, you should probably just hit "delete" now.
In light of this year's glut of sequels and three-peats, Jeremy Parish wonders aloud if creativity in game design is dead. Then Thierry Nguyen and Ryan Winterhalter tell him why he's dumb for an hour.
Jeremy Parish, Jose Otero, and Bob Mackey discuss their mixed feelings on the latest Legend of Zelda, the role and expectations of reviewers and readers, Nintendo's challenges, and the madness of iterative sequels.
Jeremy Parish, Thierry Nguyen, and Marty Sliva shatter the Internet chat paradigm by talking about the good and bad of Assassin's Creed instead of Skyrim. Daring! Specific talk about Revelations is balanced by general franchise contemplation.
WE BACK. Sam, Tina, Sharkey... and Chris Plante talk about Minecraft, Assassin's Creed Revelations, Xbox 720, Halo 4, and answer your questions
Our Friday podcast gets a reset with this week's episode. Jeremy Parish, Thierry Nguyen, and Ryan Winterhalter dive into the mechanics, lore, and history of Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls.
Let's just call this the, "crap, all these reviews hit and we forgot to edit this," episode. We're joined by Sam, Tina, Sharkey and Bobbya1984 (IGN's video and Call of Duty player).
Ryan Winterhalter kicks Matt out of his usual seat to regale Thierry and Jose with tales of The Old Republic. Meanwhile, Jeremy's back from NYCC but keeps talking about food instead of Skyrim like he promised.
BATTLEFIELD 3! Minecraft! Mass Effect 3 multiplayer! And something senior citizens eating pot brownies. Sam, Sharkey, Tina and special guest from DICE, Tim Kjell joins.
Jose Otero slips into the hosting chair this week and is joined by Bob Mackey, Matt Leone, and Mike Nelson. Get ready for 90 minutes of games and news discussions ranging from Forza 4 to Ghost Trick, and bid farewell to a 1UP veteran.
Jeremy Parish, Thierry Nguyen, Jose Otero, and Bob Mackey discuss junket food, Evangelion, and prison survival in this riveting episode. Also, there's some stuff about Dark Souls and PS Vita or whatever.
Craft Week! We bring up Minecraft, Starcraft and uh, that's about it. Actually, we break into more discussion over how awesomely bad the Battlefield 3 beta is, and the amount of interest we have in more channels for Xbox Live. Then we jump to a quick comic discussion, bring up a really out-of-place story for fun, and finish off with your questions!
Please forgive us for how we kick-off this episode (it was only appropriate for the episode number; ha!). This week, Tina, Sam, Sharkey and Miggels discuss nudity on Dead Island, Diablo 3 beta, Minecraft, skanky Catwoman and Starfire, and a few questions from the community.
Jose Otero returns from Las Vegas to bring Matt Leone and Thierry Nguyen the lowdown on EA's Syndicate reboot, while a still-jetlagged Jeremy Parish struggles to stay awake long enough to discuss his 8-hour session with the latest Legend of Zelda.
Tokyo Game Show! It happened. It made our host very sleepy from jet lag. And by golly, we talked about it, from Monster Hunter to Mommy Tummy.
"Hay you guys!" We're back! And with Sharkey! Sweet! Ok, so this week we chatted about Modern Warfare 3, Netflix's adopted pot head, a porn star gaming site, and the worst jobs in the Star Wars Universe. That poor Porkins. Oh, and we also discuss the potential of a hide-n-seek game in Minecraft.
To those that said this day would never come. What are they to say now? Since team 1UP Japan couldn't record a Games, Dammit! from the Tokyo city streets, Jose Otero, Bob Mackey, Mike Nelson, and Marty Sliva rush to the scene to discuss a bunch of stories from TGS 2011. Topic include: Resident Evil 6 (and a bit of RE4 HD talk), Frankenstick and the list of games that support it, Steel Battallion: Heavy Armor and how it won't let you slap women, Halo CE Anniversary Kinect support, the top 10 trailers to come out of TGS, Vita Battery life, Project Draco, and your reactions and comments.
Welcome to the "Let's Bring Back The 1UP Tradition of Drinking During a Podcast" episode. Scooter, Matt, Jose, and Bob knock back some beers while talking about games like: Dead Island, Star Fox 64 3D, Rise of Nightmares, Crimson Alliance, BloodRayne Betrayal, Leedmees, and Resistance 3. There's also lots of random digressions in-between games, which is how this podcast is 96 minutes of nonsense.
Jeremy is out being a boss, so that leave Scooter, Matt, Jose, and Bob Mackey left to talk about such things as: The OC, Spelunky, Persona, counting the hours we spent playing games, Rise of Nightmares, Kinect gaming in general, Jose feeding Matt a hamburger, rampant misogyny, and Labor Day weekend plans.
With Jeremy away at PAX, Ryan takes over to chat with Mike Nelson, Matt Leone and IGN's Destin Legarie about Gamestop's Deus Ex/OnLive debacle, Wing Commander, the delay of Kinect Star Wars, Steve Jobs' resignation, and the 20th anniversary of the SNES.
This is the one where we have to listen to Tina talk about Gamescom. Borderlands 2, MW3, BF3, etc. Also, we all bash Alice for her British accent.
A week of dreary gaming news deserves a deary podcast! After talking about delicious food for a moment, we delve into the hard times that have befallen Nintendo, THQ, and Team Bondi lately. A little Descendents of Erdrick music helps pep things up, tho.
We talk about things that may make you think we're bad people. For instance, we blame the London riots on Alice, and we make fun of North Korea's Kim Johng Il. But we redeem ourselves with some good times -- I think. This week, Chris Plante makes his return and we're joined by regulars Sam, Tina and Alice. We're so ronrey!
The guard shifts this week, as Jeremy takes over hosting duties for Games, Dammit. Since Jeremy was too busy being in meetings, he didn't prepare show notes, so he, Scooter, Jose Otero, and Ryan Winterhalter talk about a bunch of random stuff. Here's a list to illustrate how off-topic this episode gets: Mario Kart 7, a hypothetical Star Dracula Kart, PlayStation Vita and a Black Eyed Pea, the big stick robbery, "Rage guy", James Bond, Superman, Yuji Naka's fishing game, Japanese vacation games, incompetent Ziff-Davis executives, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Online, the FFV Four Job Fiesta, FF Tactics for iOS, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Tune in next week for either normal games podcasting or more off-topic shenanigans.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDCASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST! What do you get when you mix three girls and a dude with a fixation on nice shirts? I don't know, but we recorded a new Oddcast! This week, Sam, Tina, Alice and Janine discuss how fans reacted to the great Blizzard news this week (Diablo 3), how a crazy GTA IV mod is turning heads, and how Alice's (possibly) distant relatives are selling kids to play in Internet Cafes. Neat!
Besides the sudden 3DS price drop, it's been a bit of a slow news week. So we decided to pretty much throw most of the main editorial staff into the podcast studio for this episode. Our roster this week includes Scooter, Jeremy, Matt, and Ryan; then Jose and Bob bring a special guest from 1UP's past into the studio for a seven man podcastravaganza. Stuff we talk about include the aforementioned price drop, Aliens: Infestation, Catherine, Ghost Trick, MGS 3 Snake Eater 3DS, and how amazingly racist we all are. Also, we get special live demos of Groove Coaster and Jubeat. Until next week!
So we podcasted. Again. We asked IGN's funny men Scott Lowe and Brian Miggels to join us this week. Rabble rabble: Bobby Kotick, Lollipop Chainsaw is supposed to be sexy (and make you look like a pervert), GoldenEye is too expensive, something about "infections," and we close it off with your questions.
It's San Diego Comic-Con, so naturally we talk about...E3! With Jeremy out at SDCC, and Jose and Bob on Mario Kart duty this week's lineup is Scooter, Matt, Ryan, and Cheats intern Marty Sliva (who sounds like Andrew Pfister to us). We talk about all the fighting game news, professional conduct during E3 interviews, Star Fox 64 3D's water effects, water and beaches in games, and how we personally don't pay attention to ESRB ratings. Enjoy!
On this week's Dammit, we start off tackling such topics as Netflix on 3DS, Call of Duty Elite and XP, EA purchasing Popcap, strategy games in regards to XCOM, television depictions of video games, and the heady issue of proper crediting (focused on LA Noire). Games-wise, we chat a bit about older Zelda titles, Deus Ex Human Revolution, LA Noire, and what Matt Leone would change about Bayonetta. We then answer reader queries about our feelings on QTEs, the supposed resurgence of 2D games, "what's the deal with Japan," and the Xbox Live Summer of Arcade lineup. Also, Bob Mackey repeatedly pushes his Marxist agenda onto both the podcast crew and the games industry as a whole (when he's not discussing "the week of hedgehogs").
Oh hell yeah. A Final Fantasy rhythm game in the works, a 3DS RPG coming for the ladies, and the erotic puzzle game Catherine gets a demo on PSN and XBLA this week. 1UP Oddcast loves you, Japan. Never change.
This week, we talk about the brief highs, and the many lows, of EA Studio Showcase (where does Burnout Crash fit in?!?!?). Games-wise, we chat up more BioShock Infinite now that EVERYONE has seen it, some Journey, and hit upon the newly revealed Dishonored. Then, we feel the curse of being part of a big company with a lot of podcasts, as just when we’re about to do voicemails and reader questions, we get kicked off due to another podcast needing the studio. DOH.
The Oddcast team has finished transitioning into their new office. Listen in and hear us brag about it! This week, regulars Sam and Tina are joined by Janine and Walter to discuss what it’s like working in the new IGN office. Then we brag about how we played the Journey beta and answer more listener questions.
It’s our first week in the IGN office! This show sounds a bit wonkier than usual, tech-wise, because we’re using the IGN podcast setup -- in fact, it has more chairs, so we had 1UP features duder Bob Mackey sit in too. At some point, we will have things fixed. Until then, oh well! That doesn’t stop us from talking about Jeremy’s promotion to 1UP Editor-in-Chief and his overall goal for the site, the Supreme Court decision, the truth behind Bungie Aerospace, Call of Duty XP and Respawn Entertainment’s site launch, and even some news about Tactics Ogre’s Yasumi Matsuno and Ubisoft’s I Am Alive! We also talk a bit about Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, the Uncharted 3 multiplayer beta, and Deus Ex Human Revolution. Have a great July 4 weekend, and do the homework that Jeremy assigns!
The end of an era! Sorta! We're moving to IGN offices next week, so this is the last episode in the "1UP Admiral's Club." In it, we talk about gaming's love of celebrations (specifically Sonic, Quake, and Bungie), Jeff Green's return to EA (via the rumored Popcap purchase), how Gaikai and Wal-Mart have a nifty demo system, Kinect ads and Halo Anniversary support, and the weird "celebrity" appearances in the Duke Nukem Forever multiplayer trailer. Plus, we chat about Shadows of the Damned and discuss a listener's query about the appropriateness of attacking NYC in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Finally, while there is no official sponsorship, you'll agree that this episode should have been endorsed by Cake Boss. Until the first podcast from the IGN office!
Happy Belated E3 to you! Sam, Chris, Alice and Tina discuss their takes on how the show was this year. Sam can't make up his mind about Nintendo, Chris thinks he has a fever dream while playing Duke Nukem, and Alice answers your questions about England.
Before jumping into more Wii U and E3 discussion, Scooter, Matt, Jose, and Jeremy talk about that whole Duke Nukem Forever release-plus-negative-review deal this week. Then we properly continue the E3-centric podcast discussion that we kinda-sorta started last week. More ruminations about the Wii U, a random tangent about Ghost Recon Future Soldier, some Star Trek, the preponderance of QTEs in modern games, and even more Ninja Gaiden 3. Plus, we rank the "take something from the big screen and put it on the small screen" methods of Transfarring, Wii U, and PS3-to-Vita. We'll resume with text and voicemail questions next week -- enjoy!
Wait, this episode of Games, Dammit! is either a little too early, or way late. Either way, it's also short. We (meaning Scooter, Matt, Jeremy, and Jose) recorded this right after our last appointment(s) at E3, and before taking off for a staff dinner. So it's 26 minutes of raw, in-the-moment E3 discussion. What we liked at the show, what we wanted more of, and most importantly: why Jose likes Ninja Gaiden 3 while Matt doesn't. Stay tuned later this week for a full E3 decompression/discussion episode.
This was supposed to go up right on Tuesday noon Pacific. But some technical issues cropped up and we end up not able to post this until E3 is over. So even though E3 passed, we recorded this before heading down to LA and thus really don't know what happened in the (now past) press conferences. Pretend this came out a few days ago, and get psyched for our full E3 blowout podcast next week.
To celebrate our 60th episode, we decided to throw our podcast planning sheet away and do it live. Enjoy.
Matt and Scooter return from Pre-E3/Judges Week to talk about games with Tina and Jose. We talk a lot about Modern Warfare 3 and BioShock Infinite, while also touching on titles like Bastion, Renegade Ops, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Ghost Recon Online, and more. We also talk about our favorite quotes from videogames, running speeds in FPS games, and a whole lot of inside-the-sausage-factory style stuff about reviews. Also, the random Inception noise comes up because we didn't want to name a specific company during one discussion. Until next week!
Whoa, forget boys! Who needs them! Tina, Alice, Janine, and Sam take over the Oddcast this week -- discussing salad and feelings. No, not really. We discuss a new World of Warcraft feature, wish the best to 360 gamers, whine about Modern Warfare 3, and encourage Alice to be the best American in England.
With Scooter and Matt out, it falls to Jeremy Parish, Jose Otero, Tina Sanchez, and Mike Nelson to stoke the home fires. The time has come to talk of many things: PSN, Modern Warfare 3, a new 1UP project... and, of course, sealing wax and kings.
Besides talking a bit more about the PSN outage, we hit games like Starhawk, Dragon Quest Anniversary, Soulcalibur V, Dark Souls, Ocarina of Time 3D, Dark Souls, and even Cars 2. Questions-wise, we answer voicemails about PSN and game updates, our own weird retail experiences, and get further digressed with Ranma 1/2 and chicken paprikash. Then we tackle some text questions about mute protagonists in FPS games, the nature of open-world games, games we wanted to play but couldn't, and game trades.
OH WHAT A SURPRISE. This week Scott Sharkey joins us to chat about life in the woods and why Sony sucks for leaving their service so vulnerable to attacks. Plus, Soundboard Chris and the rest of the gang talk about Call of Duty online in China and more Alan Wake. And Ballsrog gets hyped about Mass Effect 3.
Welcome to "IGN Dammit!" Kinda. In response to this week's big news, we had Scooter, Jeremy, Matt, and Sam sit down and gab a bit about games like Portal 2, Dragon Quest VI, Outland, and Guardian Heroes. Then we finally get around to the whole IGN acquiring 1UP topic, along with some live call-in questions. Listen for guest stars like new co-worker Greg Miller, former co-worker Alan Johnson, and former-but-now-new-again-co-worker Mike Cruz. Also, Ballsrog makes an appearance! Then Tina sits in for Sam as we talk some more about the future of 1UP.
Welcome to the split episode this week! In the first half of this podcast, Scooter, Matt Leone, Jeremy Parish, and Jose Otero talk about the whole Sony PSN debacle, a random story about Beyonce cancelling a game, and more ruminations about Nintendo's Project Café. Games-wise, we talk about Driver: San Francisco, Dead or Alive 3DS, Square Enix remakes, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution's version of a hyper-competent and powerful FEMA. After answering some questions about chicken'n'waffles and console generations, we switch to the second half, the Portal-cast with Scooter, Jose, Tina Sanchez, and Mike Nelson. That latter half is an hour full of Portal 2 spoilers and random free associations. And Portal 2 voice samples. Enjoy!
This week, we're calling our show, "Little Alice: The Farewell Podcast." We discuss the Portal 2 app, how we like Portal 2, oh and, what it's like to hide from Portal 2 spoilers. We dive into the news stories Tina picked, which happens to make it seem like PlayStation sucks -- PSP Go still exists in North America, Child of Eden delayed, PSN is still down. And we're sending Alice to the UK to cover the latest Mario & Sonic game.
If the previous episode was All About Frank Cifaldi Because He's Leaving, then today is All About Jeremy Parish Because He's Back. With most of the games and question/answer stuff being taken care of with the Monday episode, we have a shorter (about an hour) chat about stuff like 1UP E3 Blogger Contest, Sony's woes of late, and Jeremy's take on the rumored Nintendo system. We also talk a bit about Mega Man Legends 3: Prototype, Super Mario 3DS, and the Law & Order embargo. All that, plus a random segment about television, and a perplexed Retronauts call-in. Leave us a message at 415-547-8713, and join our long spoiler-filled Portal 2 discussion next week!
This week we finally see the return of Chris Plante! He tells us what he?s been up to, talk about Kinect, Portal 2, and Sam tells us all he knows about the new Nintendo console that?ll be shown at E3.
It's the life and times of Frank Cifaldi-cast! This week, Scooter, Matt, and Tina (Jeremy is somewhere in southern California) bid a fond adieu to Frank, as he goes freelance. Games-wise, we chat about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Prey 2, Sonic Generations, Rage, Uncharted 3, and a lightning-round style rundown of a whole bunch of other games. Then we answer questions about franchise makeovers, seasonal gaming, shocking moments, and our personal job histories. Then we cry some more about Frank. G'bye Frank!
This is it, folks. The last ride of the at1UP gang before they head off into the sunset. It's one last gun-blazin', rootin'-tootin', wildest ride in the west, cockney-accented showdown in the Admiral's Club at 1UP Towers. Hide yer women and children, some frontier justice is about to happen.
Sam, Tina, and Alice are joined this week by special guest James Silva, who, for those not in the "know," is behind the XBLA game Dishwasher Samurai. We talk about legalizing switch blades for one-armed humans, shoehorning multiplayer into videogames, leaky codblop maps, and dressing like Solid Snake. Also, our call-in question mailbox seems to have contracted some sort of audio venereal infection we just can't get rid of.
Frank is taking the day off, so the Games, Dammit! foursome consists of Thierry Nguyen, Matt Leone, Jeremy Parish, and his subordinate, Tina Sanchez. This week, we talk about the rash of cancellations, the pronunciation of "Weinstein," and lawsuits. Games-wise, we chat about "Halo Dance Central," educate Tina about Choplifter HD, let Jeremy espouse about Monster Tale and Grand Knights History, and figure out what other Caucasian developers have made a Resident Evil game. Questions we tackle include ones about licensed music in games, the overexposure of Kevin Butler, the Street Fighter 2 control scheme, and a bizarre apology that Jeremy doesn't understand. Also, we ask for people to call us and sing songs. Enjoy!
After our strange disappearance from podcast-dom, we return with a double feature! This week (during the first half), Sam shares how old he is by remembering his first Street Fighter experience, Alice names her cat Sprinkles, and we suggest game music tracks. In the second half, Scooter, Jeremy, Tina and Sam find time to make fun of each other. Scooter is shy in front of the 3DS girls, Jeremy loves the Bioshock Infinite panel, and a 1UP imposter roamed PAX east.
The at1UP crew can't recommend "Rango" enough. If you haven't seen it, then -- listen to this ENTIRE podcast, then run out and watch it. Also on tap: 101 Free Games, Wondercon, WWE All Stars, and creating more concise video game titles.
With Jeremy out working on our big Nintendo 3DS scorecard, we rope in 1UP community manager Tina Sanchez as our Jeremy-for-the-week. We chat about the upcoming 3DS launch and some of its games, the GBA's anniversary, and Resident Evil's anniversary. Other game-talk include Duke Nukem, Crank the Weasel, and the next David Cage game. Questions-wise, we talk about gaming-related injuries, Catherine coming to the U.S., and some book recommendations. Oh yea, and we call this the "Sworcery-cast" because we get Matt Leone to talk about how Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP.
The usual Games Dammit crew has been re-assembled for full Podcast Voltron goodness. This week, we let Frank and Jeremy regale us with their PAX East highlight (hint, it's food), and we talk about stuff like Doug Church going to Valve, the rumored NGP price point, the power of Metacritic, and the Nintendo 3DS tether girls. Games-wise, we talk up Fallen Frontier, Batman Arkham City, Thor, Captain America, X-Men Destiny, and Prey 2. Also, the whole time, Jeremy plays Pilotwings Resort for review. Enjoy!
That Frank sure is a trooper. He still manages to join Mike and Travis in the studio even though he's sniffly and a little under the weather. The three discuss RePlay magazine, PAX East, Kong Offs, a Dragon Age/Mass Effect Crossover called "Massage", and a propsed Sandman TV show.
Okay, you want games? We got games. With Jeremy and Frank out at PAX East, we wrangle Justin Haywald and Mike Cruz into the studio to talk about nothing but games (and nonsense). No news items or voicemail questions this time -- we talk about: Dead Island, El Shaddai, Uncharted 3, Mortal Kombat, Shoot Many Robots, Shadows of the Damned, Darkness 2, Alice: Madness Returns, Hawken, Trenched, and more (that was only half the list, listen for the rest!). We still get sidetracked along the way, but seriously, this time, it's about games, dammit.
GamePro's Jason Wilson joins Kat and Scooter to wrap-up GDC with a look at upcoming MMORPGs for 2011 before offering a final verdict on Dragon Age II. Afterward, stick around for an interview with Deus Ex: Human Revolution's Jean-Francois Dugas & David Anfossi, and a fond farewell from Kat as she bids goodbye to 1UP.
With Frank at PAX East, Mike and Travis welcome Mike Nelson to the studio as this week's guest staffer. They discuss his recent vacation to Hawaii, Guy Fieri's stolen Lamborghini, and the perils of eating too many hamburgers. In the after-segment, Mike and Justin begin what will hopefully be a series of epic Pokemon battles.
Holy crap guys! The Game Developer's Conference happened! And we were there! We lost Alice in the crowd so we recorded without her.
Alan Johnson fills in for a Frank (who is busy covering GDC) this week; and he, Mike, and Travis discuss what?s going on with Charlie Sheen, GDC, and the art direction of Dead Space 2. In Final Notes, the three cut loose with with some long pent-up Star Wars gripes.
In part one of our GDC Special Series, Dammit, the Table of Four features Thierry Nguyen, Matt Leone, Justin Haywald, and special guest Peter Molyneux. We chat about his own gaming habits, and what's been going on at the Game Developer's Conference so far. It's a quick 45-minute show, but we blaze through such topics as the iPad 2, the Nintendo keynote (and its accompanying announcements about Netflix, Mario, and Zelda), Yu Suzuki's career, The Last Guardian, inFamous 2, and Battlefield 3. Oh, and Molyneux occasionally makes fun of Justin. Thanks, and stay tuned for some other quick episodes featuring other guests!
With Scooter showing the downside of having children and shivering under the covers like a tired soup-craving old man, Frank takes the reins with guest Tina Sanchez to talk about Microsoft's pre-GDC press event featuring such games as Batman: Arkham City, Child of Eden, The Gunstringer, and Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster. Then we cover the Battlefield and Skyrim trailers, and think all the way back to last week when we saw Telltale's Jurassic Park. Then Frank talks about sandwiches.
With her comrades busy getting ready for GDC, Kat bravely strikes out on her own once again to finally decide whether or not she hates Dragon Quest VI (Spoiler: She doesn't). Also on tap for this week is Valkyria Chronicles 3 discussion, and a chat with BioWare's Mike Laidlaw!
Thud... Thud... Thud... The water in your cup shakes. What can it be? You look over at your monitor; a podcast appears! We're joined this week by one Matt Clark (you may recall his winning blog entry a few years back that scored him a ticket to E3!) as we discuss Telltale Games' recent bevy of game announcements, including the dinotastic Jurassic Park. Some other stuff is discussed after that, but the important part is that Sam still doesn't know how to enter his credit card information into PSN. We must all take pity upon his purchase-disabled existence.
The Games, Dammit foursome are reunited now that Matt Leone and Scooter are back from Las Vegas. Topics for the week include follow-through from the Duke Nukem Titty City discussion, the Dead Island trailer that everyone else talks about, the Smithsonian's game exhibit (and how Frank and Scooter ended up being on the advisory board for a different museum), the fame of Felicia Day, Double Fine's Once Upon A Monster, and the non-development of Mirror's Edge 2. Then we tackle questions about the review process, whether we want to truly see Mass Effect's Tali unmasked, and what sci-fi books would make good adventure games. Also, we briefly break an embargo, but rather than delete the conversation altogether, we edited it to feature dinosaurs in its place. Enjoy until next week!
While Wil works at constructing features; Mike, Travis, and Frank break out the comics to discuss lame Batman villains, Superman IV, Dazzler, and Frank's haul of comics from a ten-cent bin at NYCC.
Special guest Tim Rogers fills in for Matt and Scooter as Frank and Jeremy run the show and try not to break anything. Tim brought cookies but don't worry: they're chewy, you don't have to hear us crunching. Topics include: which real-world cities have the best level design, the sad state of nothingbut.net, and videogames.
Can somebody give their PlayStation 3 a hug? We talk about Sony's bad string of luck, how Japan thinks Catherine is better than MVC3, we ask why Tina likes to irritate her new boss, and Sam mentions something about why he loves Justin Bieber. Oh, and we finish off with Ballsrog's latest rap.
What's the proper way to say "Dragon Age?" Both Jeremy and Scooter show how it's done as they join Kat to chat about both BioWare's upcoming sequel and the Tactics Ogre PSP port. Whichever game you prefer, you will most assuredly leave this episode with a better appreciation for epic enunciation.
We welcome back Matt Leone and get him to deliver some final details on his experience with the Sony NGP (and how Japanese KFCs have a "Krusher" beverage). After that, we talk a bit about Namco's announcements -- ranging from the new Dark Souls and Armored Core titles to the role of the Power Rangers and whether "Unbounded" is a word. Afterwards, we deliver some thoughts on whether we should attend "Duke Nukem's Titty City" next week. Other topics include the new zombie MMO Class3/Class4 from Undead Labs and Microsoft, the rise of Hiphopgamer, a passionate (and lyrical) defense of Gamefan, the price of downloadable versions of retail games, and why Call of Duty isn't like Meet The Fokkers. Because of so many events and things, the show is a bit shorter, and we still haven't figured out what's going on next week due to the DICE Summit, but until we get our act together, keep listening!
For this week, since Matt Leone is out in Japan, we invite Reviews Editor Justin Haywald to be his stand-in. Despite the one guy who saw and played with the Sony NGP not being present, we still manage to talk some thirty-odd minutes about Sony's new portable, and how it's a miracle that no one else had done a rear-facing touchpad before. Besides the NGP, other topics include: comic books we recommend, racial diversity in videogames, our memories of the Atari Lynx, more storytelling in games, the trouble with doors, and violence in games. Oh, and we finally declare the end of the Elevator Action joke, so don't leave any more messages on that topic. If you wanted one hour and forty minutes of lovable nonsense, this is the episode for you!
In the most "xtreme" episode of Active Time Babble to date, Kat, Travis and Mike Nelson offer the final verdict on DC Universe Online, and it isn't pretty. Before that though, Atlus' Aram Jabbari joins Kat and Jeremy in the studio to discuss the upcoming Radiant Historia while taking questions from listeners. Yes, we do take the time to ask about the whereabouts of 7th Dragon and its ilk. We ask because we care.
It's a sad, but not unexpected, day in comic book-land as Wizard Magazine closes its doors. Frank, Mike, and Travis discuss that news a little before Mike complains about a bad movie he purposely went to see. Also on tap, idiots and epic meals.
It's Nintendo 3DS madness this week, as we get Jeremy to dish out a whole lotta details about the Nintendo 3DS event in New York City earlier this week. We also talk up rumors about a Walking Dead game, a pair of twos (Portal and Final Fantasy XIII), and Frank delivers his final thoughts on Fallout New Vegas: Dead Money. We go through even more Elevator Action calls, and answer questions about how we do list features, how to vote with your dollar, the fate of Daily 1Update, storytelling in games, and more. Oh yea, and we have a totally different "cold open" for this show -- so yes, Frank just rambling on in the beginning is what you're supposed to hear. And yes, we even talk about food for quite a while.
After wrestling with some Banana Turkish Taffy, Jade discusses her new podcast, CouchBound, with Mike, Travis, and Frank. The crew also do some catch up as to what's been going on the last few months. And, of course, there's the usual fun off-topic talk that at1UP is known for.
Oddcast is 50 years -- er, episodes old! In our old age, we've grown senile, and can't remember what was said, revealed, or otherwise shouted across the airwaves this week. For all we know, we've murdered Chris, and he'll never be heard from again, except as a ghost, like in that one movie. Well, we're at least pretty sure this episode also includes Dog Football.
It's the return of the traditional Games, Dammit! crew! Since Frank Cifaldi rejoins Scooter, Matt, and Jeremy in the studio and we all talk about Fallout: New Vegas' Dead Money DLC, Swarm, our musings about CES and Nintendo World, and the PSP2 (along with its "feel-y nipples"). Questions-wise, we tackle topics such as handholding in games, horseriding in Red Dead Redemption versus sailing in Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, a special boardgame from Brenda Braithwaite, M-rated sports games, and way too many voicemails about Elevator Action. Frank gives a special shoutout to the excellent video series Chrontendo, and we even conduct a live conversation with special guest/Oddcast contributor BallsRog. Enjoy!
Scooter and Justin join Kat for a 2011 RPG Preview in the first Active Time Babble of the New Year, where they discuss Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, The Old Republic the general lack of Square Enix RPGs and Pokemon musks. Also, Kat bravely goes solo and takes questions while discussing Kingdom Hearts Recoded and the newly-announced Super Robot Taisen Z2. Will she be successful, or did she disastrously split the party? You be the judge!
What happens when one podcaster goes to CES, you have a new office with a podcast studio that lacks headphones, and you bring in guests from Double Fine? You get this Work-In-Progress-Sounding version of "Games, Dammit!" for the first week of 2011! Subbing in for Frank Cifaldi, we invited Tim Schafer (studio founder) and Lee Petty (project director) from Double Fine to sit and jabber with us. As a result, we have about an hour-and-a-half's hour of talk about games like Minotaur Rescue, Enslaved, Limbo, Dead Space 2, Heavy Rain, and, of course, Double Fine's Stacking. We also have Tim and Lee tackle questions about writing, the funniest thing that's happened to them, and CES memories. Unfortunately, as we recorded this without headphones (still setting up our new office space), we didn't know how our podcast actually sounded until post-production. So unfortunately, while you can get the essence of jokes about Weekend At Bernie's and how it relates to games, the definition of a "scotch nipple," or Lee's office antics at previous studios he's worked at, the reality is that sometimes, we all fade in and out of the podcast depending on how close we're leaning towards the microphone while talking. Oops. Our sincerest apologies for our un-optimal setup this week, enjoy what you can, and we'll have the podcast studio finalized and kinks ironed out for next week.
Ready for the new year? We're putting 2010 behind us the only way we know how: Odd Awards! Listen to us talk about such categories as, "He gave it to his Mama," or "PMPNP" (Predict Michael Patcher's Next Prediction).
It's the final show of the year, and sugar-addled adventurers Kat, Scooter, Travis and Jeremy sit down to talk about the best RPGs of the year. Nier, Infinite Space, Resonance of Fate, Costume Quest and more all get their due as ATB closes the book on a blockbuster-filled (but perhaps flawed) 2010.
It's a Games, Dammit! holiday miracle! We start out thinking that because we're recording early in a short week before heading out for the holidays, that we'd have a short show, but nope, we still fill your ears with nonsense for nearly two hours. Games-wise, we talk about Stacking and Back to the Future -- in addition to each cast member detailing his personal Game of the Year (and the one 2011 he's looking forward to). You also learn that Scooter has a frankly irrational association with the number 12. Besides that, we tackle listener questions about elevator action pitches, time travel paradoxes, whether a game can address a heady issue like the Holocaust, and what is worth a dollar nowadays. And just like your uncle who keeps on ranting long after he's no longer relevant to your conversation, we close out the year by reminiscing about our Ziff-Davis days for way too long. Happy holidays,and we'll be back in 2011!
Nearly two hours of lovable nonsense this week! Games-wise, we chat a bit about Killzone 3, Intellivision Lives, and Jeremy's disappointment with Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Limited Edition. Plus, we learn all about the Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer game via Amazon reviews (and Frank also attempts to buy Rudolph on-air), and Jeremy and Frank discuss the merits of the original TRON movie. After a very magical appearance from a "special guest," we get into listener queries about seasonal games, gaming guilty pleasures, elevator action, the state of survival horror games, Europeans and embargoes, and how Jeremy can play Vagrant Story on his PSP. All this, and a special offer from one Jeremy Parish to one lucky listener.
The latest World of WarCraft expansion has arrived; and Kat, Mike, Travis and Justin form a raiding party to plumb its depths. Scooter also drops by to chat about the newly-announced Elders Scroll V and Mass Effect 3, as well as his expectations for the upcoming PS3 port of Mass Effect 2. Listening to this episode is worth at least 50 DKP.
On this week's Oddcast, we can't wait for Bad Company 2 Vietnam, share moments about our NYC trip, Tony Hawk is a dying breed, Alice has a new instrument, Sam likes Kratos and Chris explains why his girlfriend has no idea about our show. Also, we take call-in questions and emails.
Frank Cifaldi's absence doesn't affect our ability to talk about games, dammit! With a quick substitution of Justin Haywald, we blaze though a somewhat games-packed, with talk about Journey, Uncharted 3, Tomb Raider, Catherine, Final Fantasy XIV, Demon's Souls, and Ni No Kuni (Another World -- which Justin and Jeremy go absolutely nuts over). We tackle questions about the disparity between preview and review coverage, our opinion on videogame music concerts, foreign boxarts, and our favorite JRPGs. All this, plus lots of lovable nonsense such as how much we hate the movie Eat Pray Love or what kind of concerts Matt Leone would attend.
Just because most of the big blockbuster titles have shipped doesn't mean there's not enough lovable nonsense to podcast about this week. The big thing occupying our minds is our imminent office move, and how our prepwork for said mode has unearthed some awesome treasure from the glory days of print magazines. Games-wise, we talk up Darkstar (and how it features, in Frank's words, "the memory of handsome"), Infinity Blade, Binary Domain, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, and even more Splatterhouse. Then we chat a bit about Matt's venture to Los Angeles, and our digressions include going from Uncharted to Lethal Weapon, and whether or not there's a massage in Punch-Out!! Questions lead to topics like: NES-era difficulty, why Xbox Live Indies aren't in all countries, how Mass Effect is like Grindhouse, Game of the Year nominations, and how Scooter handles gaming with his kids.
It's a Games, Dammit! Thanksgiving/Black Friday special! Well, we talk a bit about our sad lives, Thanksgiving plans, and gaming backlogs. Other topics include the casting of Marky Mark in Uncharted, and how Frank still plays OnLive. If you just want games, we talk up Disney Epic Mickey, Stacking, and Splatterhouse. Finally, we answer listener questions about embargoes, RSS feeds, and holiday release schedules. Enjoy Thanksgiving and Black Friday!
It's a podcast horn o' plenty! at1UP's best bits have been culled together for one epic trip down memory lane. Special thanks to listeners Evan Killham and Alex Cronk-Young for editing together this special episode.
Welcome to Version 2.0 of our first official episode as "Games, Dammit!" Due to a combination of user error, technical non-know-how, and Jeremy leaving for vacation, this week's episode is at 75% strength with Scooter, Matt, and Frank. There will be lots of references to the "lost" version of this episode (which sounded like Matt and Scooter talking to a mute Jeremy while Frank weaves in and out of the show depending on his excitement and volume), but overall, we cover the same ground. We talk up OnLive, Shenmue City, L.A. Noire, and the goodness of Desert Bus. For reader questions, we discuss plagiarism, why you shouldn't drive and talk at the same time, and the Spike VGAs (don't say "Spike VGA Awards"). Until next week!
We're a good two weeks past halloween, but Kat, Alice and Justin are indulging the spirit of the trick-or-treat anyway with a discussion of Double Fine's excellent download RPG Costume Quest. Jeremy Parish also stops by to chat about Radiant Historia and Tactics Ogre, and Mike Cruz and Scooter geek out over comics while chatting about DC Universe Online. Whether medieval, superhero or halloween, there's a lot of costumes in this episode.
It's the Oddcast's 1-year anniversary! But no one gives a crap. This week the gang goes off on Black Ops' multiplayer, continues to gripe about the bugs in Fallout New Vegas, and bitches even more about San Francisco banning happiness (aka Happy Meals). Plus we talk about how Tetris cures all and plan our trip to Spain to visit Super Mario Street!
Welcome to the podcast formerly known as In This Thread/4 Guys 1UP/1UP Yours, and now currently being called either "Burger Time" or "USS 1UP Flagship Podcast." For this pilot episode of an all-new podcast, we have Thierry "Scooter" Nguyen on host/showrunning duties along with a ragtag band of fellows such as Frank Cifaldi, Matt Leone, and Jeremy Parish. If there's one way to summarize this episode, it'd be, "lovable nonsense interspersed with some game commentary." Sure, we lay down the basic ideas and format for this podcast moving forward, and we do talk about games like L.A. Noire, Fallout: New Vegas, Solatorobo, Final Fantasy Tactics, and numerous announcements such as new titles from EA and a new Super Monkey Ball. But then we frequently get sidetracked by things such as poetry from the past, the brief loss and rebirth of red M and Ms, our feelings about Gamefan, our advice for covering arcade expos, and just for you, an aural unboxing of some upcoming hardware. All this, plus a plea for reader input and a possible name for next week's episode.
Kat, Mike and Travis dive headfirst into Fallout New Vegas spoilers this week, picking up where they left off last week. How does this spinoff ultimately stack up to the original, and do the bugs really detract from the experience? Kat's also joined by Scooter and Justin to talk about Fable III, where it becomes apparent that Scooter enjoys turning orphanages into brothels. It's not easy being king.
This week we discuss everything Kinect, Gran Turismo, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Battlefield Play4Free and introduce two new segments we think you'll enjoy. Oh, and we finish it off with listener questions as always!
Warren Spector joins Frank and Mike in the studio to discuss Epic Mickey, bringing back Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and classic cartoons. Also, what's this about Spector wanting to do a DuckTales game?
Behold! Chris has escaped his well and is now in?a bathroom? Yep! This week we talk about Halloween, One billion XBL hours, Keiji Inafune, EA Tiberon, PS3 fans rejoice, Sam and Max, and Sam's new favorite game: schoolgirl shooter Gun Gal. And we take your tweets, call-ins and letters as usual.
Cast members past and present assemble for one epic episode: CRUZ! WILLIAMS! KRAUS! SHIRK! JOHNSON! ARE! YOU! READY! FOR! THE! PODCAST! OF! PODCASTS! DENGARHAWKMANROBOCOP!
We're finally back after a two week hiatus. And we're back for good! Tina, Sam, Chris and special guest Alice discuss the latest with EA buying the Angry Birds developers, Fallout New Vegas bugs, Medal of Honor, and uh, Oprah. We share our love for Costume Quest and Super Meat Boy, and then go into a WTF segment with Alice. And we finish everything off with questions and call-ins as always.
Another busy weeks leads to a shortened lineup -- only Justin and Matt join Ray, but there's still plenty to talk about. Ray's been playing Game Dev Story and the "new" Time Crisis, and news deals with Professor Layton and Phoenix Wright's team-up, the far-outness of the new Command and Conquer, and Billy Joel in Rock Band, for starters. Plus, what makes a beard "pop?" The answer may surprise you. All this and more.
A while ago, we talked about the state of Japanese RPGs following the release of Final Fantasy XIII. Now, with heavy hitters like Fallout New Vegas hitting the market, Bitmob's Jason Wilson join Kat and Travis to gives Western RPGs the same treatment. What's the definitive PC RPG? And can we expect more of what we saw in Mass Effect 2? Mike Nelson also stops by to share his early impressions of New Vegas. We're going nuclear!
When did at1UP become a cop show and traffic podcast? TODAY. But not until the crew sqeeze in some gametalk. Layton x Phoenix Wright, Fallout New Vegas, and Lucha Libre: AA Heroes del Ring all get some attention before the transition to the Copcast. Or maybe the Po-Po-Podcast?
On this edition of the Sound Test, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System with a selection of remixes of classic NES themes. Mega Man, Castlevania, Gradius, Bionic Commando, Mario and more go beyond their humble chiptune origins in this episode.
Ray, Matt, Justin and Alice hit the ground running in this uncharacterist morning taping of In This Thread. Impressions of Rock Band 3 lead the show, along with a bittersweet judgment on Sonic the Hedgehog 4. In News, it's the officially-official retail release of NBA Jam on the HD consoles, Mega Man Legends 3, Grashopper's new hires, OutRun's upcoming disappearance from XBLA, DOTA 2, and a few more bits. Then it's back into games with Alice's views on Kirby's Epic Yarn, and another round of post-release thoughts on Sengoku Basara. Rousing, you might say. And... you may be right.
Jade's back! And she's got some NYCC tales to tell, but not before the crew talk have some crackers and talk about the new 1UP. Alan calls just in time for all the Comic Con talk, and Zombie Action News is back. And we close out with Final Notes and three movie recommendations from Jade.
In this special one-off edition of In This Thread, we talk to Eric Chahi and Guillame Brunier about From Dust, their upcoming simulation game on the way from Ubisoft. Chahi was also the creator of the groundbreaking action-adventure Another World (Out of This World), as well as the 1998 platformer Heart of Darkness. We discuss those early days with Chahi, as well.
Ray gets Matt, Justin and Scooter in the studio on a rare Hump Day recording, and things start with post-release discussion of EA's NBA Jam (and its price), playing Black Ops in 3D, a little more of Kirby's Epic Yarn, and Ubisoft's Kinect fighting game. In news, it's the weirdness surrounding Medal of Honor, an introduction to Panasonic's "Jungle" handheld, commentary on games from Guillermo del Toro, and the value of Hollywood partnerships with Ken Levine. Plus, Justin teaches Matt how to pronounce Japanese words.
Kat, Jeremy and Justin get together to do a quick wrap-up of Tokyo Game Show, then settle down to chat about the newly-released Pokemon Black. Is the latest excuse to market 'em looking like a major improvement over the last generation? Our heroes login to their spreadsheets to find out.
With Jade on her way to the New York Comic-Con, Mike and Travis are left ramble on about 80s TV shows, RPGs, Netflix, and superhero movies. All that, and a suprise phone call!
This week on the Sound Test, a dramatic opening courtesy Civilization V; acknowledging Final Fantasy XIV by way of FFXI; a lengthy nostalgia trip with NiGHTS; an increase in decibels thanks to Dodonpachi, and revisiting Katamari Forever.
Lots to talk about this week, starting with the Nintendo 3DS press conference update, where we go over the system's features before its launch next year; some light mudslinging from Bobby Kotick and EA; NBA Elite's delay and NBA Jam's new life; and in the second half, an honest-to-god discussion about new games we've played, including Ubisoft's Outland, From Dust, and more; Castlevania Lords of Shadow; Enslaved, and we forget what color taupe is.
When did at1UP become a news show? And now they're a "humpday" extravaganza? Outrage. At least there's plenty of comics talk about Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, and the NYCC. Also, the crew checks in with the Funnier-than-Outsourced Hotline.
Chris, missing? Boo! But Matt Leone gladly fills in on this week's show! We make fun of the TGS gallery, Halo Reach sales in Japan, Batman Arkham City, Medal of Honor being banned on military bases, and we take call-in questions!
The thread is packed to the gills this week, as we open with TGS leftovers, Who's Beaten the Donkey Kong High Score This Week, the Michael Jackson MMO, Billy Blanks' Wii game, the iffiness of GOG.com's death and return, Netflix in Canada, and tangents, tangents, tangents!
It's a guestacular second episode of 8-4 Play as two of the industry's finest - former EGM/1UP scribe Shane Bettenhausen (now of Ignition Entertainment) and Kojima Productions alum Ryan Payton (now of Microsoft's 343 Industries) join us to give their thoughts on this year's Tokyo Game Show, the state of the Japanese game industry, Dante's new hair, and a whole lot more.
Frank Cifaldi joins the crew this week to eat candy and discuss Zap Paks. 1UP's TGS photo galleries get some attention, as do Batman villains Two-Face and Killer Moth. Also listener calls!
This week, we're calling our show the atOdds cast. Why? We get Mike and Travis from at1UP to join us in Sam's absence. This week Chris rags on PlayStation Move, Tina complains about Halo Reach, we all discover what impact KFC has in Japan, wonder what you all think of Medal of Honor being banned by the military, and Sharkey loves Lord of the Rings online. As always, we take some pretty damn good call-in questions and letters.
This week on The Sound Test, we recognize more recent game releases with selections from Etrian Odyssey III and the third Professor Layton game; new music from Monster Hunter Tri; an interesting experiment with Nintendo's Popeye, and a fitting end for Super Mario's birthday.
Special Guest and 1UP.com podcast-legend Garnett Lee joins the 8-4-some in a game-by-game analysis of everything at the 2010 Tokyo Game Show, including Tactics Ogre, Parasite Eve, Yakuza, Castlevania, Monster Hunter, El Shaddai, Mega Man Universe, Child of Eden, and more. And before you start, be sure to listen to Weekend Confirmed Ep. 26 over at Shacknews.com to get the first half of our TGS 2010 discussion!
It's the big ol' Tokyo Game Show roundup with Ray, Scooter, Justin, and briefly, Alice. We go over Ray's big 3 "whats" (or "WTFs"): Yakuza, DmC, and Steel Battalion. Every other big announcement is talked about, too, including but not limited to Microsoft's hardcore Kinect games, The Last Guardian, Shadows of the Damned, Phantasy Star Online 2, and at the end, non-TGS impressions of Pac-Man Championship Edition DX and Kirby's Epic Yarn. "Epic yarn" might be a good name for this episode, too.
We discuss where we've all been: LA, PAX, and where we're going: TGS. Sam talks about what he's looking forward to seeing, like The Last Guardian, and an empty Black Ops booth. The group is missing Chris' presence, but Alice is kind enough to join us.
Ray welcomes Matt Leone and Justin Haywald back to the office following their respective road trips, and gets right into the news with both of them. Discussions include Duke Nukem Forever, the also-long-awaited MST3K-infused Darkstar, Stardock's layoffs, PS3 "jailbreaking," the sequel to Dissidia Final Fantasy, Noby Noby Boy's creator stepping away from the industry, and, you know... more!
Runic's Max Schaefer is the special guest this week as we examine the RPGs of GamesCom and PAX. Travis Williams joins Kat to ask Schaefer all of the burning questions you might have about Torchlight II, such as whether or not it will feature a monkey pet this time around. Scooter also drops by to talk Deus Ex, Guild Wars II and The Witcher II, proving once again that it's always a good time to talk about PC RPGs, even with TGS looming on the horizon.
Mike, Alice and Justin are back from their road trip to PAX and the three make sure Travis gets an earful of what he missed as the expo dominates the majority of the show. The group end the show with plenty of game talk.
With the fall game season ramping up, it's time for the Sound Test to recognize some recent releases in its own way. Kingdom Hearts is featured via a piano piece; music from Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World debuts with a rocking track from Anamanaguchi, and Mafia II rounds out the show. In between are selections from a Suikoden celtic collection and NeoGeo shooter Pulstar.
The bulk of the 1UP staff is gone this weekend, but Ray still pulls in Scooter and Scott Sharkey for this week's roundup. There's much to be discussed about subjects such as the possible StarCraft and BioShock movies (and many others), the new Xbox 360 controller, Nintendo's Mario All-Stars revival, plus new impressions of Call of Duty Black Ops and Sony's Move launch games.
The gang reunites after too long apart. We celebrate with good discussion. Capcom's cutting out the racism! Valve made a fairy game! Acclaim died, again! And for Recession Gaming: Robot wants fishy! All those exclamation points plus community questions in this week?s Oddcast. It's good to be back.
Alan Johnson is headed to PAX as an official representative of Telltale Games, but not before he swings by the 1UP offices to sit in on this week's at1UP. The crew discuss the newest 1UP blog, For the Love of Game, and give details about this year's PAX Meetup.
The news runs a somewhat typical gamut this week, from annoucements (DeathSpank 2), delays (FF XIV) and cancellations (This is Vegas), to more heady stuff about downloadable content, Portal in the classroom, and theorizing about the next Yakuza game. Scooter Nguyen and Jeremy Parish join Ray, along with special guest Aram Jabbari, PR manager at Atlus USA, who also lends insight to the discussion about Capcom trying to prevent PR disasters earlier and the pros/cons of digital distribution.
Tactical RPGs? Strategy RPGs? Whichever is the proper term, Kat, Jeremy, Ray and special guest Christian Nutt sit down to discuss the ups and downs of one of the nerdiest RPG subgenres. The crew also takes a look at the recently-released Ys Seven, but not before Travis Williams and Scott Sharkey stop by to share their thoughts on the recently-announced Neverwinter reboot by Cryptic. It's an episode so huge that we go ten full minutes over our usual runtime.
Alice joins Jade, Mike, and Travis this week to discuss 1UP's Cross Country Road Trip and bad writing in StarCraft II. A few listener calls liven things up, and Final Notes closes things out with a couple of British comedy recommendations.
After a brief hiatus, The Sound Test returns with some soft selections from the Darius Burst remix album, new music from the Final Fantasy XIII Piano Collections album, some indie flavor applied to Illusion of Gaia, somewhat retro electronica from Zanac, a live Persona piece, and the not-so-soft Marvel Vs. Capcom Mix Tape.
Gamescom news leads this week's show, as Ray, Matt, and Justin jet through the expo's various announcements, including Microsoft's new PC games, Ratchet and Clank, Resistance 3, Virtua Tennis, and more, plus the heap of release dates for the next few months (Portal 2! Donkey Kong!), the weird new Atlus game Catherine, and at the end of it all, a good old-fashioned guessing game.
Sharkey is back from his vacation, but Sam is off in Germany. Matt sits in and is kind of an old grump about it all while we talk about Italians threatening to kneecap Mafia II for sterotyping them, play Icarus Proudbottom and the Curse of the Chocolate Fountain, and take questions, and chatter about what games we've had stolen from us. Also, some guy in Malawi claims to have grown lady parts but we're more blown away that Tina has apparently been reading Perez Hilton.
Mike, Travis, and Jade lay roses on Alan's chair before soldiering on to discuss Retro City Rampage and Batman Arkham City. A listener phone call breaks down into a discussion about mouth-made robot sounds and Canadian candy and The IT Crowd share time in Final Notes. Mike Nelson stops by in the after-segment to talk a little about his visit to Quakecon.
Ray's back, but the formalties are short as we jump right into the news, starting with, of course, BioShock Infinite! Then it's on to the really big news, you know, like Billy Mitchell reclaiming his top spots on Donkey Kong, the reveal of Double Fine's Costume Quest, the possible revival of Duke Nukem Forever, the alleged PSP phone, and the wacky toys Activision is packing in with Call of Duty. After all that, at1UP's Mike Cruz and Alan Johnson join in at the end and give us their own BioShock wish list.
It's August, which is when the first of the big holiday releases traditionally begin to arrive. Kat, Thierry, Ray and Alice parse the rest of the year's releases so you don't have to, featuring discussion of everything from World of WarCraft: Cataclysm to Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light. Also discussed is Tim Schafer's new RPG, the surprise Torchlight II announcement and whether or not the world is ready for more EverQuest. Super bonus: The bass is back!
Sex! We "tee hee" a lot when it comes up. On this week's OddNews, we talk about Ratchet and Clank, Blizzard removing inappropriate maps in StarCraft II, and Activision making a move on hindering used game sales. Recession gaming involves the shooter in your pants, a.k.a. Privates. And we tangent off into a talk about cyber sex in World of Warcraft. With Scott Sharkey gone this week, we fill his place with another Scott from the office.
It's Alan's last show before he heads off to the world of community managing at Telltalle Games. We discuss what it's going to take to fill his shoes and his recent review of Madden NFL 11. The crew take some listener calls and then have a follow-up discussion about last week's StarCraft Movie Pitch. In Final Notes, Batman and Jackie Brown.
Ray's still out, so Mike is back back on hosting duties. This week, Frank, Matt, and Mike are joined by Karl Stewart, Global Brand Manager at Crystal Dynamics (Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light). Gaming news is discussed and then the guys grill Karl a little bit about Lara Croft, and why Adam West isn't in Batman: Arkham Asylum.
The whole crew is reunited after a short absence from Chris. Battlefield 3 is announced in a shitty way, the Gears of War movie adaptation is delayed, the Crayon Physics guy has another food game, and we talk about our Games to Play Before You Die feature. And we close off with our q and a segment.
Win Mike's Xbox 360S! Well, it may be Mike's, but you can win one nontheless! Head to the 1UP homepage for details. Meanwhile, on the show, the crew go Grimlock on a caller, talk about free games, pitch a StarCraft movie, and chat about the Classic Gaming Expo.
It's the Sound Test's first Jazz Show. Join host Ray Barnholt on a trip through the smoother side of game music, from arrangementss of classic games like Rolling Thunder and Phoenix Wright, to original selections from SimCity, Napple Tale, and much more. More than in a usual episode, in fact.
Ray Barnholt has gone fishin', so manager Matt Leone has decided to call Mike Cruz out of the bullpen to man the mound. Frank Cifaldi leads off with a wrap-up of his Comic-Con adventures, Justin Haywald argues with the ump about What Games to Play Before You Die, and the whole team gets together in the dugout to talk about the news of the week. And what does this episode have to do with baseball? Absolutely nothing.
Having dissected Dragon Quest IX over the course of multiple episodes, Kat, Jeremy, Justin and Jade offer their final thoughts on the franchise's latest entry. Our heroes also cover the recently announced Tactics Ogre remake, and Scooter drops in to discuss the newly-revealed Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Darkspore. Can Maxis make a Diablo-style RPG? Can a retired baseball player make an RPG? We'll find out!
Things fall apart quickly as Travis gets pulled away by corporate fat cats before the show starts and audio difficulties hinder the first few minutes of the show. But things quickly get back up to speed with talk of Starcraft II, Comic-Con, and Inception. Travis even manages to come back into the studio for some zombie discussion.
Matt subs in for Chris this week as we rap about women apparently spending more than guys on imaginary videogame items, the awesome freebie game Alien Swarm, the Medal of Honor beta is fun, and we hate on the eleven states that support the California anti-videogame law. Also, more calls calls calls, calls from the public.
It's a healthy week of news roundups as Ray, Matt, Justin and Scooter go over EA's summer press event, including their announcements of Darkspore, Kingdoms of Amalur, and yes, even EA Sports Active NFL Training Camp. We also go over PC game sales ever so slightly becoming more digital, the probably-sure-bet of a Capcom Vs. Namco game, Guitar Hero getting excessive, and more stories, plus some of your comments.
Recent releases and old favorites on this episode of the Sound Test. Dragon Quest IX headlines, some of the nicer bits from Assassin's Creed II, stepping back in time slightly with Killer7, Sonic CD, and more.
It's a healthy mix of good and bad in this week's news roundup, with stories on cancellations, layoffs, people being called pricks, Double Fine's new projects, and obese hedgehogs. InstantAction CEO Louis Castle joins Ray, Matt, and Frank in discussing this week's topics, and his company's cloud gaming platform.
Tina, Sharkey, Sam and Chris jam on such topics as GameStop's whining that they don't like being in the used games biz and the Joe Danger guy ripping on XBL. Also, Ballsrog and Tolecover both sent in some hilarious music. We need to set them up for a rap battle.
It's a great month for Japanese releases, beginning with the recently released Persona 3 Portable. Andrew Fitch joins Kat and Ray to discuss the updated port along with the merits of the series as a whole. Also on tap for this week is an interview with Hothead devs Hamish Miller and Darren Evenson, who recently finished work on the adventure game/action RPG mashup DeathSpank. As always, whether it's hack 'n slash adventures or RPGs starring Japanese high school students, we've got you covered.
Mike's destiny has been carved out for him, to review gladiator-type games. The crew talk about Tournament of Legends, along with a bunch of other games. A discussion about Dead Space has Travis asking what makes a game scary, and Jade offers up a movie recommendation..
This week, we talk about Space! Specifically, the MMO Nasa created. Also, Bobby Kotick says something to piss off gamers (again) and Tina wants Spain to win the World Cup (nobody cares). We have a great chat with developers of Shank, Prince hates the internet, and we close off with our call-in questions.
News takes up most of the attention this week, although one new and interesting game makes it in DeathSpank, with pre-release impressions from Matt and Scooter. Other than that, it's a roundup including PlayStation Move launch games, Kinect's possible standing-room-only, Activision's desired PC-based future, NBA Jam probably coming to the HD consoles, Mortal Kombat, Red Dead, and as always: So. Much. More.
After a little Transformer talk, Alan clarifies some details about applying for a MyCheats freelancer position. Mike tries to play Tournament of Legends and is excited that the game has a hawkman in it. The crew answer some listener phone calls and close out with book and movie recommendations.
This week, we make an attempt to have a serious discussion about games as art—no, not really. Sam brings up Ebert's recent comments while everyone else falls asleep, Miyamoto makes a comment about needing new game characters, and uh, Dead or Alive will just be as perverted on the 3DS. Sharkey suggests Transformice for Recession gaming and we have our usual email and voicemail segment.
Summer hits hard on this episode of the Sound Test, with a big summer game (Super Mario Galaxy 2), breezy RPG music (Xenoblade), slightly country-fried leanings (Crystal Bearers), days spent inside with the Nintendo (Zoda's Revenge), and an all-too-fitting end from a Japanese classic.
A new name for an old show is the least of the discussion this week. Ray asks Jeremy Parish about Crackdown 2 (or at least the most he can talk about), Justin chimes in with impressions of Puzzle Agent and Lego Harry Potter, and the news hits everything from Roger Ebert to PlayStation Plus to weird in-game advertising.
With E3 now finished, it's time to take a closer look at the RPG genre as a whole. Alice Liang joins Kat, Ray and Jeremy to quickly wrap up E3 with a discussion of the show's most interesting RPGs, then settle in to discuss the current state of Japanese RPGs. It's the first of a series, so keep an eye on future episodes for similar discussions as we move into the second half of the year!
The crew lament the loss of Mickey Mouse's scrappy alter ego in Epic Mickey, discuss this week's NBA Jam cover story, and Mike gets pumped for Skulls of the Shogun. This week's Movie Pitch is Metroid--what great challenge must Samus Aran defeat this time? In Final Notes: I Am Comic, Monster Camp, and Fangamer goodness.
What's that noise? It's our world cup edition! The crew gets settled in after E3. Although, we can't figure out how to get Chris to stop sounding like a robot. We discuss Odd news of the week, like Kinect's pricing, children can't play 3DS, and Iwata's comment on the industry. We make fun of the comments in our E3 award feature and answer more call-in questions. Vuvuzela!
It's been a nice week of post-E3 decompression for us. Ray, Justin, Matt and Frank take to the mics to give some final thoughts on this year's show. Key points include late impressions of Journey on PS3, thoughts on E3 as a whole and where it may be headed, perhaps even if it's going out of hand; and in the second half, a sort-of news segment that's mostly about Microsoft's as-yet-unconfirmed Kinect price, and how Sony and others are pricing their motion control options. Plus, the elusive 3DS "Pogo Cat."
It's our epic post-E3 show! The crew decompress and discuss the mindmelter/bodymover that was the Electronic Entertainment Expo, and then it's back to what the at1UPpers do best: the guys have an idea for a Star Wars Bounty Hunter movie and Jade offers up another recommendation. In the after-segments, Alan and Mike go spoiler-heavy in a Toy Story 3 discussion, and we wrap things up with a pre-E3 lost episode.
A little bit of post-E3 festivities seep into this week's show, opening with the rollicking theme song to Ollie King, the chiptune-based fun of Art Style light trax, the human sound effects machines of The Neverhood, and everybody's favorite track from a certain Sega cult classic.
We're barely alive, our voices are nearly gone and Sharkey has a hangover; yay E3! Sam, Tina, Chris and Sharkey get on the mics to ramble about the WTF moments of the event. And special guest Cliff Bleszinski stops by to talk about Gears 3 and Bulletstorm.
It's E3, and we've got some special guests to help us geek out about RPGs. Kat is joined by Star Wars the Old Republic lead writer Daniel Erickson in the first segment, where they talk about the newly-announced personal starships and the broader challenges of making a BioWare-style MMORPG. And in the second segment, Mark MacDonald and John Ricciardi join Ray and Kat to discuss some of 8 4's latest projects as well as their favorite games from the show floor. Don't miss out!
We close out our E3 on-site series with a long, drawn-out, sometimes just plan tired rundown of some of the games we've seen and played in the last couple of days. Thrill as we explain our opinions of NBA Elite, NHL Slapshot, Child of Eden, Vanquish, Monkey Island 2 Special Edition, Batman The Brave and the Bold, DJ Hero on 3DS, and so much more. Special guest Alex Evans from MediaMolecule briefly joins Ray, Matt, and Alice, with news editor Frank Cifaldi hopping on for the final block.
Our E3 Day 2 coverage starts with -- what else? -- Nintendo's morning press conference, so we hit all the big points from that show, including but not limited to the unveiling of the 3DS. The Sony press conference was still going on as we were recording, so we keep most of the discussion brief, but there's still room to pontificate on the rest of E3's games and trends. Ken Levine from Irrational Games joins Ray, Matt and Scooter for this midday show.
Frank, Scooter, and Mike wrap up today's podcast coverage with special guest Warren Spector from Disney Interactive. The foursome discuss Epic Mickey, 3D gaming, and Mr. Spector's love of all things Disney.
Valve delays Portal 2; surprise! Everyone is eager to talk about E3, and how CNN investigates why videogame movies suck-- Chris Plante elaborates. Tina makes fun of Alan Wake's wife, Sharkey shares his favorite Left 4 Dead mod, and Sam still doesn't play games.
Our first day of E3 coverage is focused on Microsoft, whose awe-inspiring (on many levels) events left us wondering if Natal -- now Kinect -- is really what it's cracked up to be. A lot more discussion of Microsoft's Monday press conference follows, including chatting about Metal Gear Solid Rising, Gears of War 3, and all the extra Kinect stuff in between, plus a short rundown at EA's press conference later that day. Special guest Shane Bettenhausen from Ignition Entertainment joins Ray, Matt and Scooter.
E3 is mere days away, but why should information take a break? We start with some iPhone 4 chat with Jeremy Parish, then move on to game talk with some final thoughts on Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, then preview talk with Rock Band 3, Spider-Man, and more. In news, it's been Mortal Kombat Week, but that's almost overshadowed (in our opinion) by Telltale's upcoming Jurassic Park and Back to the Future games, plus some more E3 bits, like Tomonobu Itagaki's new game, Yakuza 4, and rounding it out with some industry views from EA's John Riccitiello.
The at1UP crew open with a discussion of their officemates' new show, Best Foes Forever. Alan and Mike had a chance to play some multiplayer for Transformers: War For Cybertron and discover something questionable about everyone's favorite Autobot leader. Peter Weller's cyborg law enforcement officer gets the Movie Pitch treatment, and Jade offers up another excellent recommendation.
New music from the echochrome Piano Remixes album, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, recent appreciation with EDGE, celebrating Gradius' birthday with a YouTube performance, and more on this week's show.
Oh crap! Chris is back, and Sharkey finally sheds a tear of happiness. This week we talk about that little convention that's right around the corner, show some love for Wii Fit (no, not really), and we take more beloved call-in questions.
It's a big E3 preview show, in that we have a huge list of upcoming games and let you know about them. We open with news about some E3 rumors, Nintendo DS news, and new events in a couple of sports games. Then, we're into the big list of E3 games, dropping hints and regular speculation on virtually all of the publishers' titles, from Rock Band 3, Dead Space 2, PlayStation Move, Natal and 3DS, and so much more.
It's all Obsidian this week as Scott Sharkey joins Scooter and Kat to discuss whether the ambitious espionage RPG Alpha Protocol manages to reach 00 Agent status, or if it goes down in flames like the final season of 24. Also check out the Fallout: New Vegas discussion, and a quick preview of what to expect from ATB as we prepare for E3!
The crew take time to answer phone calls and emails from listeners, discuss their shenanigans in New Austin, try to figure out Ghostbusters Pachinko, and discover Billy the Exterminator.
Hope this episode doesn't harm your ear drums; Tina edited it. We share our thoughts on cocaine and how it relates to games, Sam discusses a PlayStation 3 rumor, Frank tells us about PopCap's beginnings and Sharkey is himself again. And we wonder if children can thoroughly enjoy Super Mario Galaxy 2.
Ray, Matt Leone, Scooter and Sharkey break down the past week's big previews with Killzone 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and F3AR, among others, and then another huge rundown in the news segment, where we go over Insomniac joining forces with EA, Microsoft execs leaving, PlayStation Network rumors, Rock Band 3, and yes, even Sonic Colors.
In this bonus episode for the week, Mike attempts to add one more wrinkle to the Ghostbusters Movie Pitch, Travis and Jade give us their spoiler-free impressions of the Prince of Persia film, and Alan tells a Baby Boba Fett story.
This week the at1UPpers discuss horseshoes and poker in Red Dead Redemption; our new Shame Night show featuring Frank Cifaldi and Scott Sharkey; Ghostbusters gets the Movie Pitch treatment; and in Final Notes, Jade has two movie recommendations, and what's up with all the Hawkmen?
On this week's Sound Test, selections from Square Enix's action-focused title Nier, PSP shooter Darius Burst, Nullsleep's contribution to Bit.Trip Void, a Japan-only oldie of the week, and a spirit-lifting end from Sonic Rush.
Christian Nutt joins Kat and Jeremy as they delve into the world of action RPGs. A discussion of the history and controversy surrounding one of the most wildly diverse RPG sub-genres, with a little love for Ys and Threads of Fate on the side.
This week the Oddcast goes into Space! Well, not really. Frank joins us again as we discuss the finer moments of this week, such as the lingerie based off of No More Heroes 2. We try to understand the real meaning of Square Enix's "History-Making" game, and we go into Recession gaming as always. We close off with a healthy amount of audio and email questions.
This week, Alice Liang holds Frank Cifaldi, Justin Haywald, UGO's Tracey John, and you, the listener, hostage in the podcast room. The conversation starts innocently enough with Frank sharing this week's hot ticket news items, and then mysteriously wanders into the realm of erotic gaming. But sanity is restored with a quick chat about E3 wishes. And stick around for a bonus Alan Wake spoiler segment with 1UP's very own Alan (Johnson).
The crew open with a listener phone call that leads them to reminisce about old comic book shops. Next Alan talks about the world of MyCheats SuperGuides and today's Game Night double-header. There are a couple of items for Zombie Action News, and Jade closes out the show with a documentary recommendation and some news about our friends over at Fangamer. In the after segment, more listener phone calls!
Don't call it a comeback! This week news editor Frank Cifaldi takes over and forces everyone to talk about the sudden resurgance of printed videogame magazines. Luckily he brings in some great guests to help out, including Game Informer editor in chief Andy "The Game Dandy" McNamara, Electronic Gaming Monthly senior editor Brady Fiechter, and GamePro's John Davison. Also: the latest games industry news with Sam and Jeremy, and an introduction to A.P.B. with Thierry and Sharkey.
Aye Dios Mio... we can't seem to put Chris down the well this week, so we get good ol' Frank to fill in once more. The news portion is filled with PC and Mac talk, Sam manages to suggest an indie game, Sharkey makes fun of bad pirates, we learn why we all secretly want a zombie apocalypse and Tina likes shooter. Surprise!
The road to E3 begins for one lucky 1UP blogger with our latest contest. Iron Man 2, the video game and movie, are discussed in a spoiler-heavy segment. The Blues Brothers gets the at1UP Movie Pitch treatment, and Travis talks about some Regretsy finds. All this and Listener Phone Calls.
This week's edition of The Sound Test runs the gamut from hip-hop courtesy of Random, new-retro chiptunes via Etrian Odyssey III, a jazzy piece from Telltale's Sam and Max, and a couple of more retro selections from the Game Boy's "X" and the original Mother on the NES, respectively.
It's the all-Atlus cast as Kat, Jeremy, Ray, and Justin talk about Etrian Odyssey III, Strange Journey, and 3D Dot Game Heroes. (Advisory: This episode not suitable for people who have a serious hate-on for Atlus.)
This week, Ray Barnholt takes the helm, doing it "classic style" with just games and news. Jeremy Parish, Thierry Nguyen, and Justin Haywald join in to talk about Alan Wake, Fallout: New Vegas, Lost Planet 2, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and more, plus hitting up the week's standout stories including Nintendo's money problems (in a relative sense), a baseball gamer's money solutions, Assassin's Creed sequels, and so much more. "More" being lots of crass humor, of course.
What? We're on time? That's new. Our buddy that we keep down the well escaped this week, so we have Frank as a temporary replacement. The news is filled with good comments from users, except those dudes who think 30 frames per second equates to being slow as hell. Tina's thrilled about Stephen Hawking comments, Sam likes the PSP Go, and Sharkey asks us all to buy indie games for a good cause. And then we finish off with our call-in questions.
After some quick housekeeping notes, the crew talk a little about Halo: Reach and Miles Edgeworth before jumping into a discussion about Chan-Wook Park's "Vengeance" movies. Circus Peanuts and its nefarious allies are debated upon as Enemies of Candy; and in Final Notes, Arkham Horror and the return of Zombie Action News. Also--contest winners are named!
We dig deep this week to find something, ANYTHING worth talking about that doesn't involve Activision or Bungie. Are our efforts in vain, or is there more to the games industry than the shenanigans of corporate juggernauts? A podcast thrillstravaganza!
The gang rants about California's violent game law going to the supreme court, Halo 2 players valiantly staying logged in to Live, and a free game that places Link, Samus, Megaman, and the Contra Guy in Super Mario Bros. before taking calls from the public. Oh, and Nintendo once sent Sharkey a cease and disist for writing a webpage about how much he wanted to have sex with Pikachu. Just thought you should know that.
The crew open with a couple of messages from listeners before diving into a discussion about bad EGM covers and Game Night scrotalities (that's right, scrotum fatalities). Then some gaming talk covers Pokémon, Miles Edgeworth, and Super Street Fighter IV. Movies leads into a discussion about comics, which leads to a...CONTEST!
Rollicking music from Dark Void and After Burner envelop the softer music of Okami and Flower in this week's show, including Twinsen's Odyssey as our oldie of the week, and capping it all off is a familiar ending song from Super Mario World.
Krome's Cameron Davis joins us for a big, meaty show dripping with juicy news. Respawn! Halo Reach! Warner! Captivate! iPad! And, uh, Martha Stewart? Weird. So, come! Subject yourself to the experience that can only be called... The Ugly Babycast.
Bring out your hankies and your snuggie for comfort! This week's podcast is a downer. Sam tells us about the SEGA layoffs, Tina wants to group Xbox Live friends into categories before obtaining more, and Sharkey is himself. Chris can now hear user questions and we have our usual fun with them.
The announcement of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has the crew doing a little speculation about the roster, and Game Night's Bio Force Ape leads to a discussion about one of the greatest internet pranks ever. There's a new Movie Pitch featuring Phoenix Wright, and the gang goes after the Enemies of Food.
Wii Fit is your fast track to orgasms, more of the Activision vs. Infinity Ward playground fight, championship Starcraft is about as legitimate as pro wrestling, we're skeptical of X-Com as an FPS, and we run through a bumper crop of listener call-in questions. Oh, and James Mielke crushes all our hopes and dreams by going and getting married like a big jerk.
A letter from Alan's dad leads to a discussion of bad toys, and a visit from a luchador creates some excitement in the office for the at1UP crew. Travis fills us in on Clash of the Titans, and we've got some Bongo Blitz contest winners!
This week on The Sound Test, a musical journey through Donkey Kong Country, ramblin' along in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - The Crystal Bearers, remixing Katamari Damacy, taking a breather with Machinarium, charting one's course in Yoshi's Island, and heading out for a safari in Afrika.
Cliffy B gets snubbed, CNN acts like rape games are new, Godfinger is awesome even if it's not what it sounds like, Suda51 makes games on the toilet, and we interview Passage and Death is Sleep creator Jason Rohrer. Then we take some calls from the public.
Kat Bailey, Jade Kraus, Alan Johnson and Ray Barnholt show some love for Final Fantasy IX before settling in to discuss Yakuza 3 and Infinite Space. Guest starring a certain black mage.
We catch up with Travis on one more Enemy of Comedy nominee before jumping into the show and spending a majority of the discussion on this past weekend's big Wondercon event in San Francisco. Fish and helicopters included.
A big, big week for news demands a big, big podcast. This episode we talk about PAX East, DSi XL, iPad, Ralph Baer, and Mario Galaxy 2. Plus, another GDC-era segment starring the fabulous Dylan Cuthbert!
This week, we have plenty of Odd news to discuss; Major Nelson's account is violated, Pac-Man is on a moon, and Chris will buy your Hot Coffee checks! Sharkey has us try some more Recession games, and Tina hates the one containing Priests and children. Really, it's bad. Oh, and big apology for Sam making you learn about Justin Bieber. Barf.
Easter is around the corner, so the at1UPpers talk about some favorite recent videogame Easter Eggs. A discussion about Enemies of Comedy stirs up some debate, and the gang gets all pumped for Wondercon this upcoming weekend.
This week on The Sound Test, the Command and Conquer series returns with an appropriately warlike score, Yakuza 3 delivers a musical beatdown, we listen to Ridge Racer and Evergrace in our brief celebration of the PlayStation 2's tenth anniversary, and this week's oldie features an underrated soundtrack from an equally underrated Saturn game.
With Jeremy out, Matt, Ray, Thierry, and Frank pull together a series of nontraditional segments, including a roundtable chat on Nintendo's 3DS, bite-sized interviews with consultant to the stars Mark Cerny and Enslaved's Tameem Antoniades, and a full-length discussion with Microsoft Game Studios' Peter Molyneux. Then to finish it off, they offer a few random facts about games like APB and Deus Ex Human Revolution.
1UP contributor Bob Mackey calls in to sputter about the ineffable weirdness of Resonance of Fate (and Final Fantasy XIII), while Kat comes clean to Jeremy and Ray about the years of her life she squandered on competitive Pokemon battling. It's Ratattaistic!
We share our personal feelings about a giant sandwich and whether paying girls to play videogames with you over XBL is a bad idea or a goddamn horrible idea, then we read aloud some astoundingly overwrought poetry about Aeris's death and interview a couple of the guys who made Scrap Metal.
Pokemon fever has overtaken most of the office, what with all the fashion shows, Pokewalker mingling, and insubordinate characters; so Jade and Alan update us on what's going on in the Johto Region. And in this week's Movie Pitch, the crew take a stab at (ruining) an all-new Pokemon movie franchise.
The 1UP office has a fever! People are either coughing up a lung, or wont stop trading pokemon. We prefer the former. Some dummy breaks his hand gaming, we officialy become fans of Kevin Butler, and Sharkey intervews a few good Dans.
With the departure of 4 Guys' host, the show shifts temporarily into low-key mode. Jeremy Parish, Matt Leone, Jade Kraus, and Mike Nelson discuss the week's news and releases, and David Cage and Stig Asmussen talk about Heavy Rain and God of War III.
Kat Bailey, Jeremy Parish, Thierry Nguyen, and Justin Haywald take a scattershot approach to the latest RPG news, including Pokemon remakes, an expansion for Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2 DLC, and more. It's chatty.
Be prepared for a long one (get your minds out of the gutter). Alan Johnson (GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER) joins the crew again for some GDC wrap-up and discussions about Mass Effect II, Final Fantasy XIII, Pokemon, ruining BioShock, Star Wars, and our new segment: Movie Pitch.
GDC has us exhausted, but what would the week be without an Oddcast? So, we wipe the sleep from our eyes, knock back a cup of coffee (maybe a couple) and report for duty. This week, we recollect our favorites from the show floor: what we saw, whom we met and where we got the best finger foods. Plus, we speak with Nathan Fouts, the developer behind Xbox Indies Shoot 1UP and Weapon of Choice.
Music from the recently-released Final Fantasy XII, Halo 3 ODST, The Magic Obelisk, an oldie from Ninja Gaiden II, and more on this first edition of The Sound Test.
No more drama. It's my final (new) 1UP podcast, and I invited a few friends to help me blow this mother out. Former cast mates, Garnett Lee, John Davison, Shane Bettenhausen, Andrew Pfister, and Mark MacDonald join me to talk about the DS2, PlayStation Move, Heavy Rain, God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII, Lara Croft, and more. Also hopping on the mic are N'Gai Croal, Christ Tilton, and Ryan Payton as we talk everything GDC: the rumors, the panels and the games.
It's GDC week in San Francisco, so with all of gaming's finest descending on the city by the bay, the at1UP crew talk about corporate tactics in the beer industry and ask the question, "How awesome is Mr. Freeze?"
This has been one of the most bizarre weeks for gaming news ever. First Playstation 3 systems started shutting down around the word, then all Hell started breaking loose around Infinity Ward and Activision. Now we have the official announcement that Portal 2 is coming this year. We break down all those stories plus first-hand look from Nintendo's press summit, first impressions of Shinji Mikami's new shooter Vanquish, and we're joined by the developer of Love to talk about how procedural design could change the way we make games. Finally stick around for the end of the podcast for a look forward to GDC and a very special announcement.
Infinity Ward vs. Activision news occupies the first quarter of the show before we delve into the at1UP proper. 1UP's Fanfiction and The Decade That Was features get some love and the gang updates us on their gaming situations. Plus, Zombie Action News!
A lot has happened since Sam was on the show, so we spend some time catching up with him and what he did at DICE. Also, we explore how throwing money at a company is the same as boycott their products (it isn't), Itagaki settles with Techmo, and Sharkey gives us his recession picks of the week.
We're recording on the road once again. Joining us this week from Japan is John Riccardi and Mark MacDonald from 8-4, Shane Bettenhausen from Ignition Entertainment, and 1UP executive editor, Matt Leone. There's plenty to talk about this week with Nintendo's summer release announcements for Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid Other M. We also go a little further in talking about Nintendo's rumored new consoles along with what Sony can do to shore up their handheld division. Rounding things out we lament about the edits made to the US version of Yakuza 3, and we all gang up on Mark about the splendor of Heavy Rain.
Jeremy Parish, Kat Bailey, Christian Nutt, and Chris Kohler debate the merits of the next Final Fantasy game in the most spoiler-free way possible -- but not before nearly coming to blows over the merits of Xenoblade.
Olympic Curling and Hockey start this episode's discussion, and Tina Sanchez joins the crew to talk about her recent engagement. Also on tap: 1UP's Final Fantasy XIII Cover Story, Starcraft 2, Dragon Quest VIII, and tales of Las Vegas.
On this episode, we talk about the StarCraft II beta, our hopes for more news on Dishwasher 2, and of course, Sharkey's Recession Gaming segment. Due to lack of an ability to edit podcasts (ahem, TINA), this is going up after Mike Cruz came back from vacation! Sorry for the delay!
With Microsoft inviting a whopping mass of devs and press alike into town this week, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to invite an old friend on to break down all the happenings. It also turned out to be a great chance to make some new friends by chatting up some the biggest names in game development. We chat with Peter Molyneux about his ongoing ambitions in game design, Bungie's Brian Jarrard and Marcus Lehto give us a tiny peak behind Halo Reach's curtain and Peter, James, and John tell us all about Crackdown 2. All this and much, much more. Enjoy!
This week we talk about how a game idea on neogaf may become a reality, and what inspires Miyamoto to make games. Sharkey finds the best flash game with robot unicorns, stars and rainbows (really), and we have a few user blogs to share. Oh, and with Valentine's day almost here, gaming should be included in the romantic schedule.
Kat Bailey and Scott Sharkey talk about their tour of duty aboard the starship U.S.S. Freak Machine in Star Trek Online, and guest Stiv Tramer plays the role of historian in a lengthy exploration/defense of the roguelike genre.
Reviews Editor Justin Haywald sits in with the crew this week as the not-so-secret top secret game mentioned in last week's blog is revealed. This week¹s show is very game heavy, with discussions about Mass Effect 2, BioShock 2, Dragon Quest VII, Rock Band, some free online games; also an interpretation of the DOOM theme hides somewhere in the show.
It's not every week that a sequel get's announced 16 years after the last title. Since Sega decided to pull back the curtain on Sonic 4: Episode 1 it was the perfect time to bring Ray Barnholt and Jeremy Parish to talk about the significance of Sega adding that 4 to the title. Not to be outdone we also talk about the latest Fallout game, the ESRB getting a little too descriptive, and Grasshopper games adding some serious talent. In Whatcha been playin Ray talks about the recently released No More Heroes 2, Scooter talk Aliens vs. Predator, David explores his Russian side with Metro 2033 and Jeremy discusses the wonder that is a roguelike with Shiren the Wanderer.
This week, the gang talks about PS3-powered supercomputers, High Voltage's Wii fighting game and a blogger's challenge to 1UP's readers. Sharkey also carves out some time to discuss US tax law.
The show is back after an unfortunate week off that saw Mike battling the office sick cloud -- and losing. Things start with a warning about LOST and then move on to Travis and Mike's adventure with the new UGO. After that, it's all the at1UP gaming and pop culture goodness you've come to expect.
Tina attempts to get people to care about FIFA games, Sam raves about the iPad, we chat about RPGs, and share the weirdest comments we've seen on 1UP this week.
Between the iPad and Monster Hunter Frontier port it's been a week filled with underwhelming announcements. That's ok because we've been playing plenty of games that will pick up the slack. While Sam and John talk about their hands-on experience with Apple new wundertablet, Scooter and David spent some quality time with Resident Evil 5's first DLC package and blew a bunch of stuff up in Split-Second. Then we round it out with our spoiler-free love in for Mass Effect 2. (Note: If you haven't played through Mass Effect 1 we spoil the hell out of that one.)
Jeremy, Kat, Thierry, and Mike Nelson touch briefly on the weirdness of Sands of Destruction before embarking on an hour-long examination of Mass Effect 2. (Spoiler material is limited strictly to incidental, non-plot-related matters, because we love you.)
Last week Bioware's Casey Hudson was kind enough to drop by the studio to chat about Mass Effect 2. We decided to hang onto the episode until the game launched as there are a few bits of information are best heard after you've played through the opening of the game. During the conversation we talk about the process of creating Bioware's first true sequel in a long time, making changes based on consumer feedback, and creating a potentially controversial new DLC network.
With the Independent Games Festival and GDC coming up we thought it would be a good week to go a little indie. We welcome Braid artist David Hellman, Area 5's Ryan O'donnell, and Scott Sharkey to talk about their experiences in the independent gaming scene. Along the way we sing the praises of Darksiders and lament on the future of the Zelda franchise while shining our collective light on some interesting titles that you can download now for FREE.
Joy! A new week, another oddcast! We're joined by 1UP's Alan Johnson as we ask folks to play Halo for Haiti, joke about how DSi XL is for old people, and Sharkey tells us about vvvvvv. Yes, that's a real game.
The crew braves the cold, rainy weather and marches into the studio to talk about 1UP's new video show, Backstage, a behind-the-scenes look with game developers. The 1UP Awards surpisingly don't cause a lot of controversy, and the gang delves into Darksiders, Raving Rabbids, and Earthbound.
We're back from the holiday break detour to CES, and with four peope in-studio finally living up to our namesake. Former EA producer Amer Ajami joins us to talk about his experience working as part of the team that spawned the "EA Spouse" controversy, and also hints a little at what the future has in store for him. In news, some games are getting delayed (Splinter Cell Conviction) while others are announced out of nowhere (New Assassin's Creed). Finally we round out whatcha been playin' with more Modern Warfare 2, Kane and Lynch 2, Dark Void, Star Trek Online, and Genetos, the playable museum for classic shoot 'em ups.
So this week we discover the Chinese made another game rip off, talk beat-em ups, and that "party bus" and "final fantasy" somehow blended together. Two new recession games are shared and we close with a video games and their endings topic discussion. How fitting
Jeremy Parish, Kat Bailey, Alice Liang, and Gamasutra's Christian Nutt start the year right with a look at our favorite RPGs of 2009 and the games we're anticipating in 2010. Plus, lots of import talk about Final Fantasy XIII.
Our first episode of 2010 sees the return of a familiar face, and the disastrous debut of a new one. The gang catch up with their holiday gaming stories (LOTRO, Darksiders, Spirit Tracks), some Avatar talk, movie 2010 vs. real 2010, and what's a Fatty Melt?
They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Screw that noise. G4TV's Patrick Klepek joins Matt Leone and David Ellis to talk about all the gaming business going down at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Along the way they discuss whether Natal has been effectively neutered even before its release and offer hands-on impressions from Splinter Cell Conviction, Split Second, Scrap Metal, and other games on the show floor. Also, what the heck is Xbox Live Game Room all about? Tune in to find out.
The Oddcast wobbles back to the airwaves with a yuletide hangover. Grouchy, with eggnog stink still on our breath, we commiserate over lame Christmas gifts and pick a bone with 2009. But before allow ourselves to succumb to total self-pity, we carve out some time to discuss Genetos, an indie game Tina likes!
We're still recovering from the holiday break, but that doesn't mean we're skipping a week. Recorded before the break, Constantine Hantzopoulos (Sega of America) joins David Ellis and Matt Leone in-studio to talk about his career and transition from developer to publisher back to developer.
With everyone else out for the holidays, Jeremy Parish talks to Spiderweb Software's Jeff Vogel about the finale of the long-running Avernum series.
It's Christmas time, and the year is winding down. That means an empty office around here, but boisterous Brit and all-around great guy John Davison drops by to talk about his transition back to hardcore games press. He joins David Ellis to discuss the themes that stood out in 2009, and put on their psychic caps to make some bold predictions for 2010. When will the Wii HD be announced? Will the PSP survive the year? When will Facebook take over the games space?
Happy Holidays everyone! For our final podcast of the year, we decided to do things a little differently. We close out the year with the first-ever Oddcast Awards, share our favorite gaming moments of 2009 while also reading listener submissions.
Games, dammit! That's the mantra this week as we talk almost too many titles to list. We go two segments deep with Mass Effect 2 (one spoiler free) and find out if Matt Leone or David Ellis would make a better digital parent. Then we follow that up with exploitation central via No More Heroes and Bayonetta. Finally we round out the show with tales of Splinter Cell Conviction Co-op and Red Dead Redemption.
Jeremy Parish, Kat Bailey, Travis Williams, and Christian Nutt ask themselves, "What is an RPG?" It's a soul-searching, history-spanning semantics argument for the ages. Also: Talking about Etrian Odyssey III and the rebirth of Nihon Telenet.
1UP's BioShock 2 cover story kicks off today's discussion as Travis and Mike drool over the cover artwork a little bit, Jade tells us about the choo-choo mechanics in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, and Paleolithic Bruce Wayne gets our attention in Final Notes.
With the VGA's looming we're recording on the road (pardon our echoes) in not-so-sunny LA. Friend of the show Billy Berghammer joins former Pandemic producer Cory Lewis as we talk about the studio closing and relive memories of the Gamecube launch. Along the way we discuss our favorite games of the year and what the VGA's need to do to become the Academy Awards of video games.
Our long-delayed fourth chapter arrives at last, with a flashback sequence in which we interrogate members of the World of Warcraft dev team before discussing Dragon Age in alarming detail.
It's a jam-packed show this week as Justin Haywald joins the crew in the studio for the main show to discuss Silent Hill Shattered Memories. In the first after-show segment, Nelson Laut joins Mike to talk with Brandon and Hilary from UGO's TV podcast, Toob Tied. Finally, Mike gets on the line with Bitmob.com's Dan Hsu discuss his team's involvment with the new EGM.
We go a little Hollywood this week as PC Gamer founder turned motion picture writer Gary Whitta joins us to talk about his career transition.
What do bloody sneakers, biker soldiers, crappy videogame movies, sliding block puzzles, Semtex and The Clapper all have in common? I guess you could use them together in some lame new torture technique, but they're also subjects that came up in this week's gaming news. Which we talk about. With our mouths.
Mike has a gripe about PAX East and lets us all in on his complaint. The crew talk a little about the upcoming Game of the Year community poll and delve into the some sketchy practices by online social network game makers. Also: CAT GAME CAT GAME CAT GAME CAT GAME CAT GAME!!!
With the holiday season upon us we change things up a bit. Sam Kennedy, Jeremy Parish, and Matt Leone join David Ellis to take a look back at the history of 1UP, from it's early days to this year.
On this week's podcast, we discuss what the founder of the PlayStation is up to, Left 4 Dead 2, PC mods and hacks, and also bring in Ethan Levy (Producer of Dragon Age Journey) for recession gaming.
Ray Barnholt hangs out in the studio to show off his new DSi XL and to talk about fine foods in beat 'em up games. The crew played New Super Mario Bros. Wii together (and are still talking to each other), so we'll find out what that was like. Finally, Planet 51 takes the hot seat in Final Notes. And by "hot," I mean "lame."
It's a jam-packed episode as we welcome Alice Liang and Gamasutra's Christian Nutt to talk about the layoffs at Pandemic, the PS3 going 3-D, and the next iterations of the DS and PSP. David joins in to sing the praises of Assassin's Creed II. The rest of the crew rounds things out with talk of Lego Indy 2, Dragon Age, and a tease for Zelda: Spirit Tracks.
The seeds of the holiday season have been sewn as the crew discuss 1UP's massive Holiday Gift Guide. Games discussed include Assassin's Creed 2: Discovery for DS, Harvest Moon: Animal Parade, and some potential controversy involving Dragon Age Origins DLC. In the after-segment, Active Time Babble's Kat Bailey and Jeremy Parish join Mike in the studio to talk about their new podcast, their secret origins, and all-around gaming goodness.
With two major releases it's another one of those weeks where there's almost too much to talk about. Seth Killian from Capcom Unity joins us to talk about his transition from college professor to God of all things Street Fighter. Sam and David talk about the success and failures of Modern Warefare 2 (Spoilers from 1:17-1:29), and Jeremy puts Nintendo¹s game design for everyone thesis to the test with New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Also news about the release of Microsoft's Natal, a new Hero game from Activision, and prepare your slingshot once again as Rockstar's Bully might be returning.
It's a James fest! As the first official episode of 1UP Oddcast, we brought in a few special guests. We're first joined by indie developer, James Silva, creator of Dishwasher Dead Samurai. We check out the latest on Modern Warfare 2, and explore what it takes to make an arcade game. And then James Mielke (former EIC of EGM), stops by and shares the latest at Q Entertainment and what it's like working for a developer.
After a rocky start due to a last-minute guest cancellation, our heroes pluck victory from the jaws of awkwardness. Parish, Bailey, Nguyen, and Haywald discuss Trek Online, Dragon Age, Half-Minute Hero, 4 Warriors of Light, Torchlight, and more.
With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 the hot topic of the day, the at1UP crew head the other direction and talk about Dragon Age: Origins, the Prince of Persia movie, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and the Twilight Saga: New Moon trailer.
The Black Dragon Returns. No, we're not talking about the new RPG from Bioware; former 1UP editor Jeff Green is in-studio to talk about his life as a developer and his new gig as editor-in-chief of EA.com. Scooter and Jeremy also join in to talk about Assassin's Creed II, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Mass Effect 2, and much more.
It's over! In our last episode, we discuss the latest on Modern Warfare 2, Sharkey gives us shit about his indie game based on a shark, Sam has a weird love for everything Sonic, and we say goodbye.
After trading Halloween stories, the crew settle in to talk about changes happening to the 1UP site, Travis levels up with Torchlight, Mike wrestles with creating Superstars in WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010, and Jade wraps up A Boy and His Blob. Also on tap—Dragon Age: Origins, DJ Hero, and the awesome art of Eric Tan.
Active-Time Babble II: Nostalgia and Demon's Souls In this sequel to the critically-acclaimed first episode of 1UP's RPG podcast, our party (Parish/Barnholt/Bailey) takes on Ignition Entertainment mid-boss Shane Bettenhausen over Nostalgia, only to be wiped out by the indestructible Demon's Souls.
Editorial Director Sam Kennedy joins the at1UPpers in the studio this week to talk Castlevania the Adventure Rebirth, Lego Universe, Ratchet and Clank, Critter Crunch, some TV, and Halloween costumes.
Starting a podcast is hard. A mere two weeks after bidding a bon voyage to our former leader we're relaunching with new segments, new voices, and a very special guest. Doublefine head honcho and Brutal Legend creator Tim Schafer joins us in studio on our maiden episode where we go off topic early and often, but manage to talk about Borderlands, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Assassin's Creed 2, and many others. Away we go!
Thierry "Scooter" Nguyen sits in with the at1UP crew this week. His Borderlands review is the first topic of discussion, from there, Jade fills us in on how Cooking Mama 3 shapes up in the pantheon of Mama's family games. Two new 1UP Blogs get highlighted and Mike finally returns Jade's Perfect Blue DVD. In Final Notes, Venture Brothers season 4 is discussed.
Jeremy Parish, Kat Bailey, Jade Kraus, and Andrew Fitch kick off the first real episode of 1UP's as-yet-unnamed RPG podcast with a talk about Tokyo Game Show. Ghost Trick! Crystal Bearers! Dragon Quest IX! Resonance of Fate! And some other stuff.
The guys sit down to discuss Brutal Legend, Left 4 Dead 2, Uncharted 2 and the ugliness of having a girlfriend as a gamer, a problem a 1UP member discusses in his blog. The gang is also joined by a new member, Alan Johnson
The at1UPpers finally give the new studio a spin to discuss Tekken 6, Lucidity, Dragon Age Origins, and interview the designers of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010.
With John and Garnett embarking on new and separate adventures we gather one last time as a group and reminisce of our favorite episodes and even sneak in some talk about new games
Mike, Jade, and Travis are joined by editors Justin Haywald and Ray Barnholt to talk about Rocket Knight, the PSP Go, Epic Mickey, zombies, music, and comics.
The usual suspects shoot the usual shit for the first time in a month. Football, ODST, Indie Games, Whiteboarding, and the social horror of online games all get their turn.
Jade gives us the scoop on TGS, Tokyo Disney, and the Studio Ghibli Museum. Shirk drops the knowledge on the secret life of Steven Seagal and gives a little sad news at the end of the show.
We're back to wrap up TGS 2009. 8-4 again generously offered us their offices to record and JJ, Mark, and John join in for the show as well. Sam, Shane, and Garnett complete the group that sits down to get everything they've seen out on the table. And while we had the impression the show had been really down, when we put together the list there were plenty of games to talk about including Final Fantasy XIII, Yakuza 4, Gran Turismo 5, PixelJunk Shooter, Zero Day Attack on Earth, Quantum Theory, Dead Rising 2 multiplayer, and more.
With TGS set to open in the morning Jeremy, Matt, David, Sam, and Garnett sit down to discuss what they're most excited to see at the show. Is it Yakuza 4? the Metal Gear Peacewalker demo maybe? or will something unexpected be on their minds? There's also a quick look back at couple of distractions from earlier in the week including the Videogames Live concert and a trip to the arcade.
We start our Tokyo Game Show coverage by catching up on the hottest games in Japan and a general look at the videogame scene here with Justin Epperson, John Ricciardi, and Mark MacDonald of 8-4. Sam Kennedy and David Ellis also join Garnett at the table as the group gets up to speed on Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest, and more. The second half of the show then gets into some of the trends here including the popularity of handheld gaming and a breakdown of the current situation for Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360.
Scooter and Tina join Mike and Travis in the studio this week to talk about: No More Heroes 2, Marvel's latest games, on-rail shooters, and more Dazzler!
With Sam already in Japan, Jeremy joins David, John, and Garnett for the week before TGS show. In the first segment Whatcha Been Playin covers Halo 3 ODST, Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer, Mario and Luigi, DJ Hero, Gran Turismo PSP, and more. Holiday hardware moves from a rumored Wii price cut to the rapid momentum gained by the PS3 start off the second segment before giving way to whether Nathan Drake really needs to Twitter, and John's checklist for TGS.
The band gets back together at PAX 2009 as Andrew, Shane, David, John, and Garnett take the stage. The show opens with their recap of some of their favorites on the show floor and then they open the floor to audience questions. (Note the audio quality is less than ideal due to the live recording and it improves approximately 10 minutes into the show.)
With David catching the PAX flu and Sam away in NYC John and Garnett tackle a massive show with the aid of Gamasutra's Christian Nutt. In a wide ranging Whatcha Been Playin they get into Osmos, Torchlight, Need for Speed Shift, Motorstorm Arctic Edge, Soul Calibur Broken Destiny, Batman Arkham Asylum, and more. The second segment keeps up the pace beginning with a recap of the August NPD sales stats hot off the presses and afterward including Apple calling out the DS and PSP for a handheld console war, the announcement of a new 2D Sonic headed our way in 2010, and Left 4 Dead 2 Boycotters changing their minds after a trip to Valve.
PAX talk? Of course. Also, a discussion about Beatles Rock Band that reveals a dissenter in our midst.
Matt Shirk has got some opinions about Kurt Cobain being featured in Guitar Hero 5, and he let's it all out in the Cocktail Napkin segment. Also up for discussion: PAX, Death Spank, Sega Saturn, Wally Wingert, and Strange Tales.
On this week's episode, we explore how the community feels about female objectivity in games, Sharkey shares one of the best Recession Games yet, and we discuss Batman: Arkum Asylum and WET
Sam, David, and Garnett return from their journeys but John's a late scratch from the lineup. The trio finds their hands full with Star Trek Online, NFS Shift vs. Forza 3 vs. Gran Turismo 5, Dead Nation, Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles, Eye Pet, Osmos, and more just in Whatcha' Been Playin? alone. And then after the break they tackle the price drops (and in the UK an increase) on console hardware, whether 40 dollars could be the magic price for expanding the games market, Kojima's plans for Peace Walker, and more.
This week the gang talk about a couple of the features on 1UP, chat a little about Metroid: Prime Trilogy, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Smackdown vs. Raw 2010. Then things open up with talk about Forks, WA (the town from the Twilight books), hoarding and addiction, the CA State Faire, and WWE Summerslam.
Sam and Garnett wrap-up a week's worth of the awesome games and announcements at Gamescom 2009 in Cologne, Germany. It's cornucopia of the best upcoming games including Heavy Rain, Final Fantasy 13, Diablo 3, DJ Hero, Assassins Creed 2, Castlevania, ModNation Racers, and much more.
Justin sits in with the crew to talk about Sony's PS3 Slim announcement, why hardcore gamers don't play Madden, and Professor Layton and the diabolical box.
After catching an early screening of District 9, Alan Johnson joins Matt Shirk and Mike Cruz to record their early impressions of the movie.
The infamous fourth chair gets a week off as Sam, John, and Garnett do the show as a trio. They've got their hands full with a Whatcha Been Playin? segment that includes Madden 10 both for 360/PS3 and Wii, Fat Princess, TMNT Turtles in Time Re-Shelled, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, and more. There's no letup after the break with July NPD sales figures kicking off a discussion that covers Sega's renewed commitment to mature games on the Wii, impressions of the XBL update, and a quick look at the buzz from the first day of QuakeCon.
As the crew discusses Uncharted 2, the Gameboy 20th Anniversary, and the G.I. Joe movie, Justin Haywald battles Professor Layton's diabolical box.
We pull the old double switch with Gamasutra features director Christian Nutt and our own Alice Liang joining David and Garnett. In the opening segment Little King's Story gets Whatcha' Been Playin? started before a look back at Lost Odyssey and Mass Effect gives a little preview of the upcoming RPG discussion and DiRT 2 shifts gears entirely to wrap it all up. After the break Christian helps revisit the topic of revitalizing Japanese RPGs and then the talk turns to Fat Princess's launch struggles, Starcraft 2's delay, and a potential PlayStation customer loyalty program.
Holla at ya boy -- SHIRK WEEK comes to an end with a free-for-all discussion about hippies, Shark Tank, and the Police Women of Broward County.
In this episode, Mike, Jade, Travis, and Matt talk about the office game giveaway and gems they've found in the free pile. In Zombie Action News, Eric Powell's The Goon is discussed along with a new MMO pitched by a 1UP user. For Final Notes: Cake Boss, Dating in the Dark, and a 1UP cocktail update.
The quiet summer erupts as Sam, David, John, and Garnett find themselves in a first segment Whatcha Been Playin? packed with Scribblenauts, Borderlands, PixelJunk Shooter, Shadow Complex, Shatter, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, and still there's more. After the break the second half of the show begins with a look at what it takes to establish and sustain a franchise before getting into what's upcoming in the Halo world, Sega's struggles with Sonic and mishandling of Yakuza in America, and more.
Wilbert Mui makes his first appearance on a podcast and heads up a discussion about Comic-Con. The crew discuss 1UP.com's new homepage and Shirk talks about the mood in the office during the hectic launch. Also, a new contest appears and an EGM Live* reunion!
The crew comes together to discuss what games frustrate them the most and share their love/hate for rage quitters. We learn that Sam can't play Red Faction on normal and Sharkey plays BunniBunni for Recession gaming. We're also joined by Mike Nelson and new Intern Yara to talk about this year's Comic-Con.
With Comic-Con in full swing down in San Diego we inaugurate the new weekly four minute warning question to start the second segment with a discussion of what makes a good comic license-based game. Sam, David, John, and Garnett blow right past the four minute timer before tackling other topics including the announcement of Sam Raimi directing the WoW movie, Valve's Gabe Newell talking about gamers financing games, and the future of jRPGs. A summer of sports theme kicks the show off in a Watcha Been Playin? segment filled with Wii Sports Resort, FIFA 10, Tiger Woods, and Grand Slam Tennis with a little change of pace from Need for Speed: Shift and King of Fighters XII.
Jonathan Downin from castmedium.com sits in this week to talk about his site and the state of podcasting media. A Zombie News Update preempts the Cocktail Napkin as Travis gives his impressions of Dead Snow. In Final Notes: Taco Bell regrets, Catch It Keep It, and 1UPs Comic-Con MeetUP.
SFour Minute Warning rocks the second half of the show with Gamasutra's Christian Nutt joining David, John, and Garnett. June NPD sales figures also get a quick recap. Whatcha' Been Playin? opens the show with Battlefield 1943, a retro flash of NES and SNES games, NCAA Football 10, Wii Sports Resort and more.
80s movies that need videogame sequels is the first topic of discussion. From there Travis drops the knowledge about zombie neuroscience, and Shirk's Cocktail Napkin features some Harry Potter trivia. In Final Notes, The State DVD set is mentioned and in the aftershow segment, there's a debate about Ryan Reynolds being cast as Green Lantern.
The gang's back from the 4th of July ready with tales of flash-game pedophilia and good ol' fashion nut washing. To keep things kosher, Sharkey talks Battlefield Heroes. We're joined with Richard and Niedel to discuss the first half of "2009, Year of Fighters. "And to wrap things up, the crew predicts the future of video games. Surprise, it's downloadable content. So grab a loved one, turn down the mood lights and cuddle up close - this is Good Grief.
Sam, John, David, and Garnett kick things off with Trine, Splosion Man, Shatter, Tales of Monkey Island, Sacred 2, and more in Whatcha' Been Playin? In the second segment the conversation ranges from the negative community response to TAGES DRM in Dawn of Discovery Anno 1404 to Epic's CliffyB assertion that RPG's hold the future for shooters with a stop along the way to consider how far PSN has come on the PS3.
The crew reunites and is joined by 1UP Community Manager Tina Sanchez to talk about contests, Red Bull pyramids, Shirk's travels, Food Inc., Wednesday Comics, and little sister t-shirts.
We put together a special episode for the holiday weekend with Robert Ashley joining David, John, and Garnett. They talk The Sims 3, Call of Juarez, Blueberry Garden, Men of War, and more in Whatcha Been Playin'. At the break Listen UP debuts a track off the upcoming release for Robert's band, I Come to Shanghai available Monday from their site. In the second half the conversation starts with music in games and whether today's soundtracks measure up to those from earlier eras before hitting some hopes that backward compatibility may yet return to the PS3.
The usual cast makes with chitter chatter about games like City of Heroes and Fallout 3 that went and got you addicted, spreads some free viral infections for Recession Gaming, and gets an unwanted guest appearance from a Russian fat guy who shares his feelings Nintendo's GameCube including his colorful new name for the system
A bevy of games fill Whatcha Been Playin? in the first segment including The Conduit, Overlord 2, Section 8, Battlefield 1943, EA Sports Active and more. Plus, David's moved on from Ico to tackle Shadow of the Colossus. After the break the conversation ranges from the Zenimax acquisition of iD Software and Howard Stringer's vision to revitalizing Sony to whether game critics are disconnected from their audience.
MyCheats's Alan Johnson joins the crew this week to to talk about the Sims 3 Super Guide. Also on tap: kitty birthdays, Mario-themed alcoholic beverages (with taste test), and the problem with today's comics.
Because of Tina's late appearance, she took the backseat as host while the guys took over the podcast this week. Six months of the year are gone and we ask the community if it's too soon to start discussing GOTY. Community reactions to the 1UP news stories are shared, Sharkey discusses his love for the indie game Chaser, and Tina shares her love for Red Faction Guerilla.
Sam returns for a second engagement as the fourth with David, John, and Garnett. Everyone's been playing and enjoying the early summer surprise Red Faction Guerrilla. The rest of a broad Whatcha' Been Playin? includes online racing in iRacing, Lego Battles, My Sims Agents, and Garnett eating crow and coming to the PSP Remote Play party two years late. In the second half attention turns to the continued hype building around next year's Natal launch, Miyamoto confirming the Demo Play system will debut in New Super Mario Bros. for the Wii and more.
Sam, Sharkey, Chris and Tina conquered E3! Uh, so what now? Sam share's info on his Molyneuxs's Milo reaction video, Tina discusses Community E3 blogs, and Sharkey takes over recession gaming once again. For play time, Tina rediscovers her love for Call of Duty 4 with 1UP members.
Justin Haywald joins the crew to discuss bounty hunters, sick-day games, Ace Attorney Investigations, naked bike riders, Project Natal, and cooking competitions.
John returns to join David and Garnett with Sam taking a turn in the fourth chair. Whatcha' Been Playin? is packed with games including Red Faction: Guerrilla, Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings, Prototype, inFamous, the Uncharted 2 beta, and more. In the second segment John catches up on how E3 2009 looked from the outside and then there's the May NPD sales figures and controversy over Left4Dead 2 to get to.
In the first part of this special episode, the crew get together to offer up their recommendations of games, toys, and books you listeners should check out. In part two, James Mielke joins Travis, Mike, and Nelson to talk about the Milkman's future.
The crew jump back into things and discuss the bad and the ugly of E3. Shirk laments the lack of a booth babe gallery, and Tina stops by with a new contest!
E3 2009 Listen UP specials conclude with the epic wrap up episode from the G4 stage. A host of guests join host Garnett Lee to talk about one of the best lineups of games at an E3 in recent memory including Billy Berghammer, Sterling McGsrvey, Raymond Padilla, Christian Nutt, Andrew Pfister, Mark MacDonald, Patrick Klepek, Adam Sessler, James Stevenson, Pete Wanat, and Todd Howard. Be sure to watch the HD video version of the show too on G4TV.com.
Day two of E3 2009 is in the books. Edge editor-in-chief drops in for a short visit with Mark and Garnett to get the show started and then Shane and David join to get into some of the best games seen during the day including Left4Dead 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, Assassin's Creed 2, Mass Effect 2, and more.
Jeff Cannata from the Totally Rad Show and Mark MacDonald join David and Garnett to review a day packed with announcements at the Sony and Nintendo press conferences. Mario Galaxy 2, a new Metroid, and God of War 3 are just some of the highlights from this E3 extravaganza.
In our first daily E3 2009 special Matt Leone and Thierry Nguyen join David and Garnett to cover the major press conferences that launched E3 week. They get right into Microsoft noting highlights like Alan Wake and Splinter Cell Conviction as well as discussing the motion sensing control interface code named Project Natal. From EA there's no doubt that the announcement of APB's new home stole the show and despite an appearance by James Cameron Ubisoft's briefing was most notable for Assassin's Creed 2 only being shown as a trailer.
For the last pre-E3 episode Travis Moses from GamePro and Brad Shoemaker from GiantBomb.com join David and Garnett. A strong Whatcha Been Playin? includes more on inFamous and Prototype, Transformers, Killing Floor and more. E3 predictions dominate an extended second segment with everyone laying it on the line with their thoughts on the lineups from Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and the major publishers.
Running a day late because of the Memorial Day Holiday, the at1UP crew hit the studio to discuss: Bayonetta, Punch-Out!!, shysty bartenders, and this weekend's Maker Faire. Jade Stuff makes it's triumphant return with Ms. Kraus ranting about Phoenix Wright (spoilers ahoy).
We're joined again with Chris Plante from UGO and dive into more 1UP board discussions; the latest Team ICO project, and why people become jaded with gaming. Sharkey shares his love for the NSFW indie game, Seed of Destruction in Recession Gaming. Then we top it all off with the results of our E3 blogger contest.
It's Patrick's last show with John, David, and Garnett before moving down to LA and he goes out in style. Whatcha Been Playin features inFamous, Prototype, Call of Juarez, Boom Blox Bash Party and more. Then in the second segment the topics cover Spielberg's view on the future for videogames to the leaked Trico video before the attention gets turned to E3 -- including the reveal of our big plans for the show!
We return from the two week hiatus with community sparked conversations on "most embarrassing game moments," among others. Sharkey heads the Recession Gaming segment with Cactus Arcade, we share our StarCraft gaming moments, Treyarch community manager Josh Olin drops by with the deets on the upcoming second map pack for CoD World at War and all the while Tina giggles like a crazy person.
Ray Barnholt and Justin Haywald stop by to discuss who's got the more active life rhythm and throw down a challenge to Matt Shirk. Travis gives us some insight on 1UPs Heavy Rain cover story and the Cocktail Napkin highlights some of the freebies in our 101 Free Games feature.
Back in San Francisco a John, David, Patrick, and Garnett fill a packed Whatcha Been Playin with everything from Plants vs. Zombies to Red Faction Guerrilla to Boom Blox Bash Party and a whole lot more in between. In the second segment it's time for the April NPD sales figures as well as several stories surrounding Sony in the lead up to E3, a good-bye to Duke Nukem, and more.
Bitmob's Dan Hsu and Demian Linn stop by to talk about their new website. From there the discussion gets geeky with a lively talk about the latest Star Trek Movie.
Billy Berghammer makes his Listen UP debut in a big way both hooking us up with an amazing studio to record the show in and taking pre-show and out-take videos you'll want to check out at G4tv.com. Shane comes back as well with his take on the FFXIII demo. We talk Split Second, Tiger Woods with Wii Motion Plus, E3 predictions and more.
There's something in the air, and it's called: FIGHTING. The gang argue their way through discussion ranging from 1UP's Blogger Contest, Phoenix Wright, the Wolverine movie, the FIGHTING movie, and various sporting events.
We're back! Good Grief returns after an unexpected interruption in our schedule. We discuss more 1UP community happenings from defending our gaming habits to discovering the underrated games in popular franchises. Sharkey turns the Recession Gaming spotlight on Scary Girl and Tina shares her Play Time experience with Fat Princess.
Whatcha' Been Playin? kicks things off this week with Patapon 2, Pixel Junk Eden Encore, and more. In the second segment John, David, Patrick, and Garnett launch the pre-E3 speculations with the PSP Go! rumors, rumblings of a new hardware generation from Ubi's CEO, and wrap up wondering whether we really were ready for a videogame to tackle Fallujah.
Scooter hangs out with the crew to discuss his recent European adventure. Resident Evil revisting is discussed and so is Tila Tequilla. Tila Tequilla? Yes. Tila Tequilla. Deeds, not words.
Sterling McGarvey sits in for John with David, Patrick, and Garnett in a show so full it almost breaks the three hour barrier. Excitebots, Flock, Wolverine, Bionic Commando, and more kick it off in Whatcha' Been Playin?. And the second half sees the conversation turn to Peter Dille's comments during his epic interview at Gamasutra along with all the new info on Fallout 3 DLC, New Vegas, and Bioshock 2.
This week the at1UP crew talk about the FFXIII demo and reminisce a little about RPGs. Also on tap: Starcraft, Battlefield Heroes, Pitchmen, and Happy Birthday to the Gameboy!
Caution, navel gazing ahead. Sam, Tina, Chris, and Scott dive into the topic of game journalism semantics. The chin stroking then degenerates into disses on Sam's feminine Xbox avatar. Fortunately, they have the wonderful indies Legend of Princess and Hero's Arms, Dawn of War 2, and Battlefield Bad Company to distract them from themselves.
The regular crew of John, David, Patrick, and Garnett dig into a Whatcha Been Playin? segment overflowing with games like Conduit, Rock Band Unplugged, Battlefield Heroes, Henry Hatsworth, and more. The energy carries over to second segment talk about the March NPD sales figures, Nintendo's announcement of Wii MotionPlus release date and price, and the Final Fantasy XIII demo that just hit in Japan.
Good times are had by all when 1UP users try to stump Jade, Travis, and Shirk with gaming trivia. In the Cocktail Napkin segment, Shirk demands to see your cocktail napkins, for some swag! Details on at1upblog.1up.com. Finally Jade drops some knowledge about Final Fantasy XIII and the Cherry Blossom Festival.
The quest to share the best that 1UP blogger's have to offer continues as Chris brings out the best discussions of the DSi launch and Resident Evil 5's Versus Mode. Sharkey shares his love for Shrapnel Game's Weird Worlds for Recession Gaming and in Playtime Tina took on Dawn of War 2 and Sam got fragged in Killzone 2.
Four Minute Warning makes its first appearance of the 2009 season and it's been too long. Scott Sharkey joins David, John, and Garnett to field the questions and jump into Whatcha Been Playin that includes Killzone 2, Punch Out, Groov, and more.
Capes or no capes? Scooter and Mike Nelson join Mike, Jade, Travis, and Shirk to discuss: Wolverine and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Also, what would it take to be a real-life vigilante, and can LARPers bring out the heroes within themselves?
Our cynicism returns with renewed vigor after a week off for GDC. Chris shares a few blogs he found on 1UP, Sharkey praises Shrapnel games, and we wrap it up talking Battlefield 1943 with the game's producer, Gordon Van Dyke.
Victor Lucas, Sterling McGarvey, Matthew Kumar, Robert Ashley, and more join John, Patrick, and Garnett as we wrap up our GDC 2009 specials. The group talks about their experiences at the show and some of the big topics that came up and finishes up by tackling what gets us to spend our time playing games.
Scott Sharkey re-hijacks at1UP for a second indie games special. This time Braid's David Hellman, Passage and Between's Jason Rohrer, and Love's Eskil Steenberg argue about design philosophy and why they work for themselves.
Matt Leone joins the at1UP crew this week to talk about the Brutal Legend cover story. Our GDC wrap-up discussion includes Jade checking out a WoW panel and Mike griping about "The Corporate." Matt Shirk kicks off a discussion about GDC parties and Travis helps close things out with a user-suggested game.
Listen UP's Game Developers Conference 2009 Specials continue with Bioware's Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk joining John and Garnett to talk about Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2, and their experiences building rpgs. After that David Jaffe comes on to talk about the gaming press and the balance they hope to hit on his next game project. And then James Stevenson and Ryan Schneider from Insomniac Games shed a little light on the newly announced Ratchet and Clank game and get into the evolution of community design in shooters.
Refusing to be sidelined during GDC week, the crew sneak into the studio with special guest Anthony Gallegos and lay down their own thoughts about the Game Developer's Conference. On tap: Jade's GDC wishes, Travis's videogame pitch, Shirk's cocktail napkin, and Mike's latest comic book obsession.
The first of our GDC 09 Listen UP specials includes Pete Wanat and Mark MacDonald joining John, David, and Garnett. First impressions of Punch Out, John's on the road time with GTA Chinatown Wars, and what may or may not be our final discussion on Resident Evil 5 all make there way into Watcha' Been Playin'. And in the second half OnLive gets the GDC talk going before Pete adds a few thoughts about Wii development to wrap things up.
Scott Sharkey hijacks at1UP this week for a GDC indie games special. He's put together two segments packed with the developers who made several of the most interesting indie games out there. Don't miss this opportunity to get a glimpse into the world of indie gaming.
Who's hungry for some Good Grief? The famished will no doubt enjoy this week's platter of GDC predictions and rogue-likes. Wash the whole thing down with a community Q and A, including the question on everyone's mind: if you could add exploding barrels to improve any videogame, what would it be?
With big plans in the works for the Game Developers Conference next week N'Gai Croal joins David, Patrick, and Garnett to get the party started. It begins with a Whatcha Been Playin that wraps up everything Resident Evil 5 as well as Bit.Trip: Beat, Metal Gear Solid Touch, and more. The second segment picks right up with the February NPDs, a consideration of when Mature games will actually be mature, and some picks for the must-see sessions at GDC.
While Travis is off fighting zombies, er, I mean "the infected," Mike, Jade, and Shirk welcome special guests MyCheats' Kurtis Seid and Rebel FM's Anthony Gallegos to talk about zombies. More specifically, the crew talk about the Resident Evil 5 launch party, RE5 itself, the Walking Dead graphic novels, and the band, The Zombies. Yup. It's a zombie-filled St. Patrick's Day. And speaking of St. Paddy's, Shirk discusses the best bar games to play in the cocktail napkin segment.
Hop on the short bus! This week we pack it full with six people on the show. Sam vents his frustrations about the Sonic franchise, we share our Street Figther 4 stories from playtime, and we listen to Sharkey praise more Recession Gaming friendly games. Special guest Philip Kollar sits in along with Chris Plante in San Francisco, and Russ Frustick from UGO "in the well."
It's Resident Evil 5 release day. We've been playing it and have a couple thoughts on the soon to be released multiplayer DLC that will cost you a couple bucks. With Gamasutra's Christian Nutt along with Patrick Klepek joining David and Garnett the rest of Whatcha Been Playing includes Guitar Hero Metallica, Fight Night Round 4, Ys, and more. Cap it off with everything from a potential Wii price hike in the UK to first mentions of Bioshock 2 and you've got your weekend confirmed.
This week the crew reflect on the Watchmen movie and obsess a little over Jake Gyllenhaal's possibly air-brushed abs. Also, Shirk's cocktail napkin is filled with Mike Tyson tidbits in preparation for Fight Night Round 4. Finally, Jade discovers some awesome music from an unexpected classic game. "Classic" used loosely.
Good Grief episode 2 ups the ante like Empire Strikes Back. We give you Killzone 2 impressions from community play time night and share our love for Gang Garrison 2. While Phil Kollar caught a cold and couldn't make it this week, we caught visiting 1UP user David Loh to take his place. Oh, and we froze Tina in carbonite.
John, David, and Garnett bring Need for Speed Shift, HAWX, Ghostbusters, and more to Whatcha Been Playin, but that's not all. Retronauts regular Ray Barnholt adds in Retro Game Challenge and Dragon Quest V. Turmoil caused by the announcements this week of several new stores entering the used games business kicks off the second half of the show, and from there the conversation turns to everything from Sonic to Jimmy Fallon putting videogames on Late Night.