Submit a news tip



Podcast

ON THIS EPISODE: Jack kicks off ‘what we played’ with some continued discussion of Wind Waker HD, Austin filled out the middle with his thoughts on Wii U eShop game Pure Chess, and Laura tells us why she’s now addicted to World of Warcraft.

PLUS: We have a discussion about the GBA Virtual Console on Wii U, which games we plan on purchasing, and what games we might desire to see in the future.

AND: Listener mail brings Zelda back into the fray (albeit less prominently) with some talk about it vs. Darksiders, and some nice discussion of whether comparing one game to its predecessors is a valid way to review or criticize.

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura


Download this episode (click this link)

Subscribe via iTunes by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Google by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Yahoo something-or-other by clicking this thing!

ON THIS EPISODE: Laura tried an interesting new game this week called World of Warcraft, and she’s… on the fence about it to say the least! Jack briefly talks about his experiencing listening to the Zelda: Skyward Sword soundtrack and playing more Wind Waker HD, and Austin primarily talks about a new game: Max Payne 3. He’s less than impressed by it.

PLUS: A sparse news segment means that we talk about Nintendo Downloads and that’s about it, but listener mail fills in with TONS of Zelda-related talk, including a defense of A Link Between Worlds and some more Ocarina of Time vs. Majora’s Mask discussion.

AND: The book club is delayed! Austin and Jack hadn’t the time to finish Zero Escape, so we’re giving them two more weeks to fully complete the game.

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura


Download this episode (click this link)

Subscribe via iTunes by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Google by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Yahoo something-or-other by clicking this thing!

More:

ON THIS EPISODE:

Laura discusses the impressive (and sometimes genuinely frightening!) art style of A Hat in Time’s alpha release, Jack briefly touches on his first-impressions of Gunman Clive and some minor Wind Waker HD observations, and Austin rounds out “what we played” with a list of things he *likes* about The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds after beating it this week.

PLUS:

Not a whole lot of news leads into a listener mail segment dominated by one letter regarding Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, and how the two compare and contrast.

AND:

Our book club discussion of Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward gets heated as Austin, Laura, and Jack debate the merits of the game’s characterization, writing, and overall story. Regardless, all three seem to be finding the game getting more interesting as time goes on…

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura


Download this episode (click this link)

Subscribe via iTunes by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Google by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Yahoo something-or-other by clicking this thing!

More:

ON THIS EPISODE: ‘What we played’ focuses primarily on a discussion of the negative parallels between Pokémon X and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, and Austin’s frustration with Nintendo’s recent focus on streamlined gameplay.

PLUS: The news section features a somewhat misguided discussion about tutorials in games courtesy of Retro Studios, as well as what sorts of games may simply need tutorials to exist; tutorials aren’t always bad, it seems!

AND: Our first week of discussing Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward gets pretty intense, with the fundamental agreement being that it’s not very well put together overall, but something about it is still engaging! Interesting thoughts for sure.

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura


Download this episode (click this link)

Subscribe via iTunes by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Google by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Yahoo something-or-other by clicking this thing!

More:

ON THIS EPISODE: A discussion about Austin’s thoughts on Punch Out!! turns into a very extensive look at “top down” vs. “bottom up” development and whether hard games are inherently too inaccessible to be considered widely influential art.

PLUS: Laura says something that lights Austin’s fuse and an intense discussion about the morality of “free to play” games ensues. It’s a big’un, so get ready.

AND: The book club was delayed by a week! It’ll be here next week.

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura


Download this episode (click this link)

Subscribe via iTunes by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Google by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Yahoo something-or-other by clicking this thing!

ON THIS EPISODE: It’s all Donkey Kong, all the time! Not only does Austin discharge his thoughts on Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze in spades, but Jack has been playing Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D all week so a bit of DK ping pong takes place as we compare the two games. Laura breaks the monotony with some talk of DS cult hit Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective though, so if you hate DK you’ll be okay.

PLUS: There’s not a whole lot of news, but listener mail supports the tail end of the show with questions about Wii U’s GBA Virtual Console, whether Nintendo should have an E3 press conference or not, and whether grinding in an RPG is inherently broken or not.

AND: We discuss and eventually select the next game to be our Book Club game! The winner? Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward.

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura


Download this episode (click this link)

Subscribe via iTunes by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Google by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Yahoo something-or-other by clicking this thing!

ON THIS EPISODE: A return to normal quality sees us talk about how impressive Portal is and how Valve achieved such a cohesive sense of place in a relatively minimalist game, and a discussion of Persona 4 turns towards the analytical with some exploitative discussion on more complicated games and what elements might help and hurt such ambitious experiences.

PLUS: We go through every announcement in the Nintendo Direct and give our thumbs up or thumbs down, in addition to general discussion about all of the games/features shown.

AND: Listener mail has a few really great game-design-driven questions that have us analyzing screenshots from Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and speaking on the subject of redundancy and teaching in games, and how this might separate the good games from the great games. Here are the two screenshots we refer to in the segment: Image 1 Image 2

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura


Download this episode (click this link)

Subscribe via iTunes by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Google by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Yahoo something-or-other by clicking this thing!

ON THIS EPISODE: It’s up late, but we still have Laura talking a tiny bit about Broken Sword on iOS, Austin discussing the great boss design of Oracle of Ages, Jack brings up Super Paper Mario yet again and talks about Umihare Kawase for a second.

PLUS: We have a brief discussion about whether games should always be fun or efficient, as well as going over regular news and a bunch of listener mail!

AND: We’re really sorry about this episode. You might just want to skip it.

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura


Download this episode (click this link)

Subscribe via iTunes by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Google by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Yahoo something-or-other by clicking this thing!

ON THIS EPISODE: Jack re-fills us in with some love of Papers, Please, Laura causes a long and hearty discussion about Little Inferno, and Austin continues to berate A Link Between Worlds while praising Oracle of Ages.

PLUS: A lot of news about Nintendo’s future and their new “Quality of Life” business strategy— a discussion ensues.

AND: Plenty of listener mail about achievements, Nintendo’s future, and our favorite sequels rounds out the show.

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Laura


Download this episode (click this link)

Subscribe via iTunes by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Google by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Yahoo something-or-other by clicking this thing!

ON THIS EPISODE: Austin lambastes A Link Between Worlds further, Aysha (filling in for Laura) gives us her impressions of Orcs Must Die! and Outlast, and Jack sings the praises of Papers, Please and Super Paper Mario.

PLUS: Listener mail includes some criticism of achievements, lots of speculation about Nintendo’s future, and a fairly entertaining song about our podcast! Plus more.

AND: We try to play Settlers of Catan while doing the podcast for the first hour. It uh… didn’t work out so well.

This Week’s Podcast Crew: Austin, Jack, and Aysha (whaaaat!?)


Download this episode (click this link)

Subscribe via iTunes by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Google by clicking this thing!

Subscribe with Yahoo something-or-other by clicking this thing!


Manage Cookie Settings