A show number with "69" in it only comes around every 100 episodes, so we take full advantage this week, as Michael Grimm joins us for a somewhat NSFW show about games that used the (sometimes-dubious) talents of former and current adult-film actresses to great effect. Once the moaning is out of the way, it's time to dig in to Mighty No. 9, Umbrella Corps, No Man's Sky's legal troubles and your favorite E3 items that weren't showcased at a press conference.
Jun 24, 2016•2 hr 53 min
E3 is coming fast, so let’s distract ourselves just a little before the show starts with a Top 5 about (surprisingly competent) games based on “unscripted” television shows about “real” “people” who are “not entertainment lizards in hu-man guise.” The second segment gets a bit parkour-flavored, what with the one-two punch of Mirror’s Edge Catalyst and Watch Dogs 2’s reveal, and then it’s on to your most frustrating memories of losing a game to a glitch or hardware failure.
Jun 10, 2016•2 hr 46 min
In belated tribute to the PS2 "classic" Jaws Unleashed's 10th anniversary last week, this episode focuses not on the triumph of being a shark, but the terror of being its victim, with a Top 5 about the most stressful games to swim in. Then it's on to a heated discussion of One Piece: Burning Blood, Primal, Mighty No. 9's latest trailer and the most memorable dreams you've had about games.
Jun 03, 2016•2 hr 59 min
We begin this week's show by exploring the theater of the mind, with five games that take place entirely in their characters' heads and/or dreams. We then weigh in on the the Overwatch mania currently driving the internet bonkers, along with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan, Hideo Kojima's studio plans, and the games you play with your kids (or will play with your hypothetical kids).
May 27, 2016•2 hr 9 min
Shadow of the Beast arrival this week is a reminder that sometimes, it's possible to tell a clear, engaging story without any actual dialogue. And that pushed us to spend this week's Top 5 discussion looking at other games that tell rich stories with little more than pantomime and grunting. We then move on to Doom, Homefront: The Revolution and Valkyria Chronicles Remastered before turning our attention to worrying game-movie plans, Shenmue remasters and your ideal toys-to-life games.
May 20, 2016•2 hr 1 min
This week's release of Uncharted 4 is by all accounts a fitting send-off (for now) for one of the PS3 era's most beloved series, and so we get all topical with a frank discussion of five iconic roles inhabited by voice-acting supertalent Nolan North. The discussion then gradually meanders to our time with Uncharted 4 so far before we turn our attention to Disney Infinity shutting down, Assassin's Creed getting a movie trailer and your favorite moments in Star Wars games.
May 13, 2016•2 hr 46 min
Mikel returns as host this week, and we celebrate by cursing America's pastime with a list of five baseball-themed games in which you never actually play baseball. We then jump back to the present with a look at Battleborn, before shifting to reactions to Call of Duty news, the Ratchet & Clank movie getting panned by critics, and the non-Zelda Nintendo franchises you'd most like to see revived by the NX launch.
May 06, 2016•2 hr 36 min
Special guest star Heidi Kemps of Gaming.moe rejoins the show this week, just in time for a discussion about our favorite improbably non-Japanese ninjas. Then it's on to talking about Star Fox Zero and the rumored PlayStation 4.5, after which we tackle your favorite Superman and/or Batman games.
Apr 22, 2016•2 hr 54 min
Ratchet & Clank's arrival this week sparks a Top 5 discussion about that great and rare Ouroboros of modern media: Video games that got turned into movies and TV shows, and then back into games based on those movies and TV shows. We then dive into a fevered discussion of Dark Souls III, touch on Titanfall 2's multiplatform reveal and take and earnest look at your favorite sports games.
Apr 15, 2016•2 hr 4 min
Now that Final Fantasy XV finally has a release date 10 years after it was first announced, Gamespot editor Scott Butterworth joins the hosts this week for a look at five other games that had long and troubled development cycles, but emerged beautifully. Then we dig into Quantum Break and Mega Man Legends 2, marvel at Danny DeVito’s ignorance of Pokemon, and look at your favorite April Fool’s pranks of all time.
Apr 08, 2016•2 hr 3 min
Making a game is often a huge undertaking. Making a successful game all by yourself is a staggering feat, and it's one that the five creators behind the games in this week's Top 5 managed to pull off spectacularly. The it's on to a look at the Oculus Rift and its key launch titles, Let's Play controversies, butt controversies and a look at your favorite Game Boy Advance memories.
Apr 01, 2016•2 hr 52 min
It’s a jock-out lockout this week, as Retronauts host Bob Mackey joins us to take a look at the gawkiest, dorkiest, most pedantic nerd archetypes the games industry has thrown at us over the years. Then its on to a rip-roaring discussion of Day of the Tentacle Remastered, the week’s flurry of Nintendo rumors and/or hoaxes, and a look at the VR headsets you think have the most potential.
Mar 25, 2016•2 hr
This week, we delve into those strange and short-lived days when it was considered bold and avant-garde to market cheesy games around the promise of nudity and stick them on consoles. We then return to modernity with a look at Salt and Sanctuary, EA Sports UFC 2 and Senran Kagura: Estival Versus, then delve into some of the new announcements from the week of GDC before looking at the oldest save files you someday plan to return to.
Mar 18, 2016•2 hr 42 min
We get an early jump on St. Patrick's Day this week, with a hiss-heavy segment celebrating five videogame snakes that Ireland's patron saint would doubtlessly have run out of the country on a rail. We then snap right back to the present with a look at The Division, Rise of the Kasai on PS4 and Hitman; wallow in the sad sagas of Lionhead and the Coleco Chameleon; and dig into the best games you never played the DLC for.
Mar 11, 2016•2 hr 48 min
The regular cast settles in this week for a look at five bosses that showed up to challenge fist-themed heroes while packing decidedly non-punchy firearms, often with predictable results. With that out of the way, we shift our focus to Superhot and this week's torrent of re-releases, the announcement of Pokemon Sun and Moon, and the survival skills you'd want if you were literally bombed back to the Stone Age.
Mar 04, 2016•2 hr 37 min
This week, former Game Informer editor Tim Turi joins us to talk about our favorite prehistoric adventures where sweaty men in loincloths fight dinosaurs. (Appropriately, none of them were made after 1997.) Then we shift slightly to talk about Far Cry Primal, Mega Man Legacy Collection, Vive pricing news and your favorite fighting-game characters.
Feb 27, 2016•2 hr 11 min
Ryan J. Hodge, author of Laser Time's own Play/Write series, joins us for the first time this week to chat about frumpy Soviets, suspiciously unnamed guerrillas and other commies who've taken starring roles in games over the years. Then it's on to talk about Street Fighter V and Fire Emblem Fates, free Sega games on Steam and your earliest crushes on game characters.
Feb 19, 2016•2 hr 56 min
Our sesquicentennial episode takes a fond look back at some of the absolute worst voice acting ever to appear in video games, as Heidi Kemps joins us to talk about her upcoming MAGFest panel. Then it's on to a packed week of new releases that includes Firewatch, Unravel and a new Naruto; a goodbye to GameTrailers; and the games you'd play if you were trapped in a reality-resetting Groundhog Day situation.
Feb 12, 2016•2 hr 55 min
Video games have been around since at least the '70s, but introspective games - ones with a statement to make about how we approach and play games, and what we expect from them - are still relatively rare. With The Witness out this week, however, we decided to take a look at how Jonathan Blow's earlier effort helped push metacommentary in games - and then we use it as a jumping-off point to talk about a few others. With that out of the way, we can talk about The Witness, Final Fantasy Explorers,...
Jan 29, 2016•2 hr 13 min
For decades, character designers have kept a hidden ace up their sleeve, one so powerful that they probably feel like hacks for using it, and so rarely do: if you put a cute face on a vaguely rounded shape, the resulting character will be irresistible and people will line up to buy its merchandise. Today's Top 5 looks at some especially effective blob protagonists (blobtagonists?) whose quivering, jelly-like forms have kept us entertained over the years. It's then on to talk about this week's ch...
Jan 22, 2016•2 hr 6 min
Following this week's first round of sad news, Dan Amrich joins us this week to help pay tribute to David Bowie the only way we know how: by basing a Top 5 around his more notable ventures into gaming. The sadness bleeds into our second segment with a look at That Dragon, Cancer, but lets up with Pocket Mortys, Amazon's 20% new-game discounts and a look at the games you're looking forward to the most.
Jan 15, 2016•2 hr 48 min
Welcome back for another year of VGA! As has become tradition 'round these parts, we begin the year by looking ahead to five games we're really excited about. (There isn't a whole lot that's been revealed about some of these, though, so it's a short segment. Then it's on to a quick look at Amplitude, some quick laughs about the Star Wars "RPG" Kicstarter and other news that's erupted while we've been away, and a rundown of your favorite games of last year.
Jan 08, 2016•2 hr 46 min
It's time for our last show of the year, and we've put together a big one. A rotating cast of regular VGA hosts is joined by friends of the show (including Bob Mackey, Heidi Kemps and Chris Watters) to discuss our favorite games of 2015. There's even a mysteeeeerious "holiday special" sandwiched in between! All that awesomeness left no room for current-events talk, so we'll resume our regular format when we return in 2016. In the meantime, merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Dec 25, 2015•3 hr 43 min
Sick of hearing about Star Wars yet? Too bad, because (after a surprise announcement from Anne Lewis) we're making a shameless grab for its coattails with our (admittedly shaky) rundown of our favorite Star Wars games. With that safely out of the way, it's on to a brief look at SteamWorld Heist and the Jack the Ripper DLC for Assassin's Creed Syndicate, some talk about developments in the worlds of Hideo Kojima and Super Smash Bros., and the offbeat franchises you'd love to bring back.
Dec 18, 2015•2 hr 2 min
Mikel's back, and he's bringing special guest hosts Bob Mackey and Heidi Kemps with him! This week, we get into five games that let you not just turn evil, but actually unseat the villain and conquer in their place. (Evil path/bad ending spoilers abound, so listen for the time cues if you want to skip ahead.) With that out of the way, we move on to Yakuza 5, Earth Defense Force 4.1 and news from The Game Awards and PlayStation Experience, before taking a look at the games you most closely associ...
Dec 11, 2015•3 hr 31 min
With the Xbox 360 turning 10 next week, we're joined by GameSpot host/writer/producer Chris Watters (here to tell us about his brand new book, The Gamer's Bucket List) and Brett Elston (in his first VGA appearance as a full-time LaserTime editor) as we discuss the five greatest true exclusives the Xbox 360 had under its belt. We then switch gears to talk about Star Wars Battlefront and last week's Nintendo Direct, before looking at the hard choices you had to make between two out-at-the-same-tim...
Nov 20, 2015•2 hr 21 min
This week, we go unabashedly old-school in honor of LaserTime's newest full-time member, Brett Elston - who couldn't make it, leaving us to stumble through a frank discussion of grappling hooks and swing physics. Then we dig into Fallout 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider and a few other big releases, talk about some Overwatch and (pre-Direct) Nintendo news, and take a look at your favorite places to call home in games.
Nov 13, 2015•2 hr 1 min
Whether you think of it as your house, headquarters, or simply a comforting save room, having a customizable home base has become a big part of a lot of our favorite games in recent years. As our string of horror-related shows comes to an end, we spend this week reminiscing about five of our favorite homes, after which we dive into new releases like Need for Speed and Cibele, scratch our heads over the King/Activision news, and talk about your worst experiences at places that were supposed to be...
Nov 06, 2015•2 hr 29 min
Happy Halloween, everybody! For our final horror-themed episode of October, we're going for the jugular with a genre feared even by some horror fans: scary games in which your only defense is to run, hide and hope the monsters don't find you. Then it's on to a lighter discussion of Halo 5: Guardians and WWE 2K16, an enthused look at Sony's Paris press conference, and your favorite encounters with Cronenbergs.
Oct 30, 2015•2 hr 10 min
Rick and Morty is a fantastic show, if for no other reason than that it gave us a new use for the word "Cronenberg," referring to incomprehensible masses of writhing flesh and body horror that look like they just flopped out of a David Cronenberg movie. As we continue our scary-for-October theme, taking a look at gaming's most prominent Cronenbergs seems like a logical next step. And after we wipe off their residue, we dive into Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Tales from the Borderlands, baffling Hi...
Oct 23, 2015•2 hr 1 min
