Video Game Generations

In this episode, I list off the line-up of free November games for XBox Gold and PlayStation Plus subscribers, and then we read listener emails that answer our prior weeks' questions. Addie talks about the games she's playing (more Costume Quest 2, but also several little games from KetchApp on iOS) and I once again pre-recorded mine so that Addie wouldn't have to sit through twenty minutes of me-time (The Evil Within on PS4, a bit more Final Fantasy X, and Ultima VI: The False Prophet for SNES via the Retron5). Our big topic of the week is the Internet Arcade, where you can play classic arcade games, for free, in your web browser. We stumble our way through a few of those. Then, almost forgetting it entirely, we come up with an on-the-spot Question of the Week for listeners. What's your favorite video game music? It's a topic we've talked about on prior episodes, but we haven't yet heard from our listeners.

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

It's a big, big episode today, with Bill (from Episode 12) sitting in with us again to talk games and stuff. More listeners answer prior weeks' questions in our listener feedback segment, and Bill has a few answers of his own. For what I've been playing since the last episode, I once again use pre-recorded segments to keep the main recording at a reasonable length since, as always, it's a school night for Addie -- and for Bill's daughter Natalie, who joins us briefly to talk about scary movies and video games. My monologue includes my final thoughts on Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (PS4) and 8 Eyes (NES on Retron5), as well as my opening thoughts on The Evil Within (PS4), PlayStation TV (a "Vita" for your TV), and KillZone: Liberation (a PSP game I started playing on PSTV). A third pre-recorded segment features Heath, Addie's younger brother. He talks with me about Portal 2 (XBox 360), Gauntlet and Gauntlet II (NES on Retron5), Pix the Cat (PS4), and of course, Minecraft (PS4). He does a great job of confusi

After a little off-topic TV talk, we read and respond to listener feedback, which includes a few fun answers to last week's questions for our listeners. I give some recommendations for horror-themed Wii on-rails shooters, and then it's a pre-recorded bit where I talk about what I've been playing: Time Lord (NES), Little Nemo: The Dream Master (NES), 8 Eyes (NES), and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (PS4). Somewhere in there, Addie and I confuse each other as to the plot and characters in Kingdom Hearts. After that, we introduce a new segment where Addie takes a game-related quiz. This one tests her judgment in figuring out which game in several pairs takes longer to beat. Then, we talk about video game nostalgia, and why kids don't really have an attachment to vintage games. Our Question of the Week for listeners has an upside and a downside: Which game genres do you prefer, and which do you avoid? This week's outro music is a vgmusic.com MIDI arrangement of Chapter 1 from Little Nemo: The Dream Master.

In this episode, we list off this month's Playstation Plus free games, and then I launch into a rant about Amazon. We read listener feedback too, during which we discuss possible changes to our format in the effort to balance podcasting with Addie's school life. We still haven't made any solid decisions there. Then we talk about the games we've been playing. Addie and Heath played more Minecraft (PS4) in split-screen co-op mode. They both played a little puzzle game called Blok Drop U (WiiU), which I got for free from @IndieGamerChick on Twitter. I introduced Addie to her very first NES game, Sky Kid, which we played for only a few minutes in two-player mode, and her very first Gameboy Advance game, Super Mario World (a re-release of the SNES classic), although we played on the Retron5 (her idea) and only for a couple levels. I give some opening thoughts on Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, which I haven't played much but have enjoyed so far. Then it's NES nostalgia with the Retron5. In the past week, I played

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

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

Our off-topic intro segment delves into the latest episode of Doctor Who, "Listen", which we discuss a little more than usual this week (but as un-spoilery as we can). News is brief as usual, centering mostly on Microsoft's purchase of Minecraft developer Mojang. I read off a 30-day Playstation Plus code which can be redeemed by a Playstation owner (Vita, PS3, or PS4) who isn't already a Plus subscriber, and then we get into this week's email. Several listeners offer great answers to some of our recent Questions of the Week. Games discussed this week include Fallout 3's expansion Operation: Anchorage, an XBOX Live Indie Game (XBLIG) called 2D World Creator, Rogue Legacy on PS4 and Vita, and of course, Destiny. Addie played some of an iPhone game called Watercolors (from Adonis Software), which looks to be a unique and colorful puzzler. In general gaming topics, I talk about my top three original NES sports games, and then I launch into a lengthy explanation of what "Interactive Fiction" is (because I hope to

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

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

We start, as always, with a "Get to Know the Hosts" off-topic segment, this time focusing on the top three "fun" things we did this summer. We read more listener email, which includes two answers to last week's question of the week, and a new question that brings back memories of old, now-vintage home computers. In the "What We Played" segment, Addie gives her final thoughts on Edna & Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes, and her opening thoughts on Double Fine's Broken Age. All of us played a little Castle Crashers this week, so we talk some about what kind of game it is, and whether or not it's actually appropriate for kids. I wrap up my thoughts on Murdered: Soul Suspect (spoiler: I liked it quite a bit, despite a negative opinion from reviewers in general). I tried an old XBOX 360 hovercar racing game called Fatal Inertia, and I talk a little more about Kid Icarus: Uprising and Broken Sword 5. I recently started playing Phantom Dust (from the original XBOX), so I give my opening thoughts on that, and to wrap up

This week we read more listener email and talk about ways to help make sure kids play (and watch) age-appropriate games. Addie hasn't had time to play much since the last episode, but she talks a little about Portal, Portal 2, and Shadow of the Colossus (which are games she played some previously). I give my final thoughts on The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii) after finishing it recently, and my opening thoughts on Murdered: Soul Suspect (PS4) -- which I've already almost finished. Then Hadleigh fills us in on Tomodachi Life (3DS) as only a 6-year-old can. We also talk a little about IGN's reading of a 1982 book titled simply "Video Games." Then, with "Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney" mere days away from release, I talk briefly about the history of both of these puzzle/adventure games (DS and 3DS) leading up to this brand new mash-up. We also pose a new question of the week: if you're starting out with just one of the new-gen consoles, which one, and what influenced your decision? We do

This week, Addie talks more about Octodad (PS4) after recently beating it. I give a few more thoughts on Strider (PS4 version) since I beat that too. Other games discussed include Skyward Sword (yes, again -- I'm still playing it), Dance Dance Revolution Universe, Final Fantasy X HD Remake, The Secret of Monkey Island, and Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime. Our game of the week, Hohokum (PS4 version) gets the 15-minute treatment, and you can find that extra segment as a separate MP3 at our site or in the podcast feed this week. We talk about a few other off-topic things that interest us (the ads I used to find in old comic books, the Doctor Who role-playing game, and a movie Addie recently watched for the first time). More listener email, a new question of the week about game-breaking bugs, and our Riddle of the Week are returning segments to round out the episode. NOTE: Next week's episode will be a day late, due to Addie being unavailable to record at our usual time.

Some highlights of this episode include more Zelda: Skyward Sword talk, the character/leveling system in Final Fantasy X, recommendations for good RPG's of the past couple of years (Xenoblade Chronicles, Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, and Persona 4 Golden), videogame music compilations from the London Philharmonic, my opinion on the pricing of Playstation games in the Playstation Now beta, games we're looking forward to this fall (for Addie, that's LittleBigPlanet 3, but for me, there are too many must-play titles just around the corner). I talk for a while about the free games available this month with "premium" subscription services (XBox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus), including Dishonored, Road Not Taken and Fez. For three other topics in particular, we invite responses from our listeners, including your thoughts on the recent documentary "Video Games: The Movie." Early in the show, we read more listener email, and Addie presents another Riddle of the Week. Our 15 Minutes of Game segment returns,

In this week's episode, Addie talks about Tearaway and Octodad: Dadliest Catch, and I give my thoughts so far on Kid Icarus: Uprising and the Strider remake. Our game of the week is the new iOS adventure Revolution 60 (from developer Giant Spacekat/Brianna Wu). In our first-ever "15 Minutes of Game" segment, we give our thoughts on the first fifteen minutes of PS4's Towerfall: Ascension. I talk about a few of my favorite XBox Live Indie games (XBLIG), including the Decay series, the two Platformance games, DLC Quest, and Magicians & Looters. Addie's younger siblings (twins) talk briefly about the games they've been playing (hint: one of them is Minecraft). But before all of this, we read an abundance of great feedback and encouragement we've received from our listeners in email. This makes for a longer-than-usual episode, and we hope you enjoy it!

Today, we talk about Disney Infinity, LittleBigPlanet, Little Inferno, the Destiny beta, Papo & Yo, and Persona 4 Golden. But that's not all. As usual, we talk briefly about a variety of other games and marginally on-topic subjects like books about virtual reality (Ready Player One and Rainbow's End), and two interactive fiction competitions. We're joined later by Tracy for a short discussion on PC adventure games Kaptain Brawe and Edna & Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes. Four Destiny beta codes are given out (two for XBox 360 and two for PlayStation 4 -- if you're not in the beta yet, grab one of these before July 27th), and we talk a little about what it means to "spoil" videogames. ...... Find us on the web at www.vggpodcast.com or email us at podcast@vggpodcast.com.

In our second episode, now on our usual day, we discuss the upcoming season of Doctor Who, the ESRB, and things we got wrong last time. Then we get on-topic with talk about various Double Fine games, Portal, Quantum Conundrum, Puppeteer, and others. Music in videogames is the topic of the week. And for some lucky listener, I read off a Destiny beta code just waiting to be claimed. Enjoy! ...... Find us on the web at www.vggpodcast.com or email us at podcast@vggpodcast.com.

In our very first episode, we jump wildly in the discussion between various games we've enjoyed, after we introduce the podcast and ourselves.