It's been a great week for fans of retro games - and for GameStop employees, who now have an answer to the eternal question, "Do you have Battletoads?" The release of Rare Replay spurred our spoiled-child brains to talk about five games that didn't make it into the collection, which we then discuss at length during the New Releases segment. Then it's on to a smattering of Gamescom news and a look at the times you MacGyvered something in real life.
Aug 07, 2015•2 hr 37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Seventeen years after its last installment, King's Quest is back among the living with this week's release of a new episodic adventure series. Happy as we are to see King Graham back in the thick of it, his return made us wistful for other adventure franchises that haven't had a new installment since the '90s - and that, with the recent revival of adventure gaming, are ripe for another chance. Then it's on to some talk about (of course!) the new King's Quest, Arnold Schwarzenegger joining WWE 2K...
Jul 31, 2015•2 hr 53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Cars are great and all, but if you really want to get around in style, nothing beats nature's motorcycle: the noble horse. Especially when you can call them to your side at any time, like the summonable horses in this week's Top 5. Then we talk about Journey, Tembo and other new releases; some EVO news; and the deceased fighting games you'd love to see make a comeback.
Jul 24, 2015•1 hr 26 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Evo Championship Series begins today, giving fighting-game fans around the world a chance to feel really inadequate by watching pro competitors at work. Since none of us are going, the best you'll get is this week's Top 5 - suggested by special guest star Heidi Kemps (of Gaming.moe ) - in which we count down our favorite fighting franchises that never made it past their first sequels. We then get maudlin over the sad passing of Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, but not before delving into Dec...
Jul 17, 2015•2 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Predator's arrival this week in Mortal Kombat X isn't exactly unprecedented, considering that the skull-collecting alien hunter has been the ultimate crossover star since the '90s. But he's not the first Hollywood character to make an appearance in an unrelated game, either, so we thought it'd be fun to look at five other instances when film icons suddenly showed up in games that had nothing to do with their movies. Then there's some brief talk about SKullgirls: 2nd Encore and Rocket League,...
Jul 10, 2015•2 hr 53 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's the midpoint of the year, which means it's time to pick our favorite games of the past six months. Which ones made the cut? Listen as we validate (or invalidate) your opinions, completely forget Troy Baker's name, and then spend most of the second segment talking about favorites that didn't make the cut, because it's a slow week. Then we talk about games you wish hadn't been canceled. Fun!
Jul 03, 2015•2 hr 20 min•Transcript available on Metacast In celebration of a certain shark's 40th anniversary, the Steven Spielberg classic Jaws was re-released to theaters this week - and because we seize literally any excuse to bring up Jaws games, we've created a whole Top 5 around them, which should be enough to keep Mikel from mentioning Jaws Unleashed for at least a while. Then it's on to talk about Batman: Arkham Knight, Yoshi's Woolly World's early release abroad, some lingering E3 impressions, and your favorite moments from E3 2015.
Jun 26, 2015•3 hr 33 min•Transcript available on Metacast With Jurassic World hitting theaters and (LEGO-themed) games, this week seems like a perfect time for an appreciation of our favorite apex predator, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, and its five best appearances as a menacing boss monster. Then there's some excitable, digression-heavy talk about Fallout 4, Steam refunds, Uwe Boll cursing Kickstarter, and the video-game deaths you felt bad about causing.
Jun 12, 2015•2 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hatred's release grabbed headlines and then sort of fizzled out this week, but not before we put together a Top 5 about games that let you live out your worst bully fantasies by indiscriminately murdering innocent civilians. With that out of the way, it's on to the last conversation we'll ever have about Hatred, as well as some talk about Massive Chalice, (pre-announcement) Fallout 4, and your favorite advergames and/or game ads.
Jun 04, 2015•3 hr 42 min•Transcript available on Metacast When advertisers and games come together, the results are usually annoying in-game billboards, awkward insertions of commercial taglines into dialogue, or a set-up for stale jokes about Doritos and Mountain Dew. But once every 100 years (give or take), unholy pacts between ads and games create something wonderful, memorable, sometimes even playable. We count down five of our favorites in this week's show, after which we talk about Witcher 3 (again), Ultra Street Fighter IV, Splatoon, the impendi...
May 28, 2015•2 hr 20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Conventional wisdom holds that handheld versions of multiplatform games are, at best, stripped-down shadows of their console brethren, and best forgotten. Sometimes, conventional wisdom is for idiots. USGamer's Bob Mackey joins us this week for a Top 5 about handheld companion games that outshone their higher-profile console versions, after which we jump into a rambling conversation about Witcher 3 and Destiny: House of Wolves (and The Simpsons, and some other stuff) before looking at characters...
May 22, 2015•3 hr 42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sega's Saturn might have been an underpowered, overpriced mess of a system when it prematurely launched 20 years ago this week — but dammit, it still holds a special place in our hearts, partly because it boasted some truly amazing games. In this episode, we count down our five favorites, after which we dive into an anemic slate of new releases (including Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains), get excited over Fallout/Bloodstained/Assassin's Creed Syndicate news, and the alt-history games that ca...
May 14, 2015•2 hr 15 min•Transcript available on Metacast For many Americans, Cinco de Mayo is a grand opportunity to crowd into Mexican restaurants, get drunk, and wear ridiculous hats while not knowing the first thing about what the holiday's actually about. Now that it's come and gone, however, Gamespot's Chris Watters joins us to talk about a different kind of cultural appropriation: Japanese games that include sombrero-wearing characters, often for no clear thematic reason. After that, there's some argument about alternate histories in general, an...
May 07, 2015•2 hr 13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our longtime friend Dan Amrich (of Palette-Swap Ninja and Critical Path ) joins us this week, and we repay him by making him suffer through counting down five of the loudest, chattiest, most obnoxious cartoon characters ever to headline a platformer. Then there's some excitement over the return of Broken Age; a lot of chat about recent Konami, Valve, Hatred, Black Ops III, and Just Cause 3 news; and a fond look at your favorite Star Wars games....
Apr 30, 2015•2 hr 24 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's the week of 4/20, which means you probably spent most of Monday massaging your temples in anguish as the Internet brayed endless weed jokes and used the word "ganja" unironically. Well, tough, because it's not over yet —we're late to the party and we're getting our smoke on. Or, well, the protagonists in this week's Top 5 are, as we count down a selection of games in which you can watch your avatar get high. Then there's some chat about Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China (during which we so...
Apr 23, 2015•2 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Do you often find yourself rooting for the bad guys, sometimes even when they're not snappier dressers than the heroes? You're not alone, and a lot of games cater to your dark impulses with the option to play as their Big Bads and put the sappy good guys in their place. Along with special guest Heidi Kemps of gaming.moe , we explore five of our favorite villain experiences this week, followed by a spirited discussion of Mortal Kombat X, Westerado: Double Barreled, Grand Theft Auto V on PC, and y...
Apr 16, 2015•2 hr 18 min•Transcript available on Metacast With David Lynch dropping out (at least temporarily) of the Twin Peaks resurrection over the weekend, the time was ripe for an idea that's been sitting on our back burner for a while: games that borrowed heavily from the landmark '90s show, forging their own uniquely weird identities in the process. Some of them may even surprise you. There's also some light talk about Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, excitement over Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and ranting over Amiibos, and a look at your f...
Apr 09, 2015•2 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast San Francisco seems to get destroyed a lot more often than most other cities in fiction, and that includes games - so this week, we take a look at five games that wreaked the most destruction on VGA's hometown. Then there's some extended Bloodborne chat with Michael Grimm, a bit of excitement over Axiom Verge, and a look at the games you said made purchasing a new console or video card worthwhile.
Apr 02, 2015•2 hr 17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Fresh off our playthrough of the dazzling Final Fantasy XV demo, we begin this week's show by looking at the proud tradition of packing high-profile demos to help sell (and, more often than not, almost completely eclipse) medium-profile games. Then it's on to some rapturous Bloodborne chatter, our thoughts on Hideo Kojima leaving Konami, and your best drunk-gaming experiences.
Mar 26, 2015•2 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Given that St. Patrick's Day was this week, we opted for the convenient holiday theme and made this episode about the most Irish thing games have to offer: Irish accents, affected by (mostly) non-Irish actors. Then it's on to some brief talk about Battlefield Hardline, Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, and Jason Voorhees joining Mortal Kombat X, after which we take a look at your ideas for the perfect VR experience.
Mar 19, 2015•2 hr 48 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
