Episode 067 – Izzy’s Quest for the Olympic Rings (1995)

Episode 067 – Izzy’s Quest for the Olympic Rings (1995)

Episode 067 – Izzy’s Quest for the Olympic Rings (1995)

This week in Your Parents Basement, we are playing an awful licensed game with an Olympic mascot! From 1995, we’re playing Izzy’s Quest for the Olympic Rings by Alexandria and published by U.S. Gold (a British company) for the SNES and Genesis.

You can manually download this week’s anti-glory podcast here or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

As always, if you like the show, support us by buying from Amazon! You can use this link to go to Amazon, and any purchase you make will kick a couple bucks to the show, with no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win!

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

  • 0:00 – Intro, which features the title theme from the game.
  • 34:00 – Emails! We hear from some lovebirds this week.
  • 52:30 – A sweet boy tries to stop us, but we persist onward with Ask The Sweet Boys!
  • 1:01:30 – Snifferoo. Next week, we’re playing one of the classic launch games – literally! – for the SNES!

SHOW NOTES

– According to Price Charting, Izzy’s Quest tends to be pretty cheap for the SNES and Genesis, with the loose cart going for $4.50 to $6.

Vidya Game News – August 4, 2016

Nintendo Power - Issue 50 - Link's Awakening– Holy hell, get at this treasure trove before Nintendo takes it down! Thirteen years of Nintendo Power have been put on the Internet Archive. The covers alone are awesome. Read them alllll here. (Note: Some sites say that Nintendo has authorized the posting, so mayyybeeee they’ll stay up longer than a hot minute.)

– Matt Grosinger of Nerdist has a ranking of all the songs in Mario Kart 64, from worst to best.

– The 54-acre former home of Atari in Beverly is now looking for tenants, per Banker and Tradesman.

– Hardcore Gamer is doing a week-long retrospective on the Metroid series, with the topic of this article being Metroid Prime’s incredible music.

– To the surprise of almost no one, the developer of the new Ghostbusters video game that didn’t tie into the old series OR the new one didn’t have a successful release. Fireforge has filed for bankruptcy, claiming $12 million in debt, only three days after launching the game. Read more on Kotaku.

– Chris Reed at Entertainment Cheat Sheet has a pretty neat list of 10 games millennials have forgotten about.

– Polygon’s Michael McWhertor has eight minutes of Sonic Mania gameplay posted, and shockingly, it doesn’t look bad! Check it out here.

ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…

Doom 3, the first attempted reboot of the series by id Software, came out on Aug. 3, 2004. While it wasn’t really followed-up by id, the more story-based game got good reviews, and it was pretty fun!

– Konami’s Silent Hill 3, a direct sequel to the first game in the series, came out for the PS2 on Aug. 5, 2003.

Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.

Episode 066 – The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (1992)

Episode 066 – The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (1992)

Episode 066 – The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (1992)

This week in Your Parents Basement, we are smacking things with our pipes and yo-yos! From 1992, we’re playing The Legend of the Mystical Ninja by Konami for the SNES.

You can manually download this week’s quirky podcast here or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

As always, if you like the show, support us by buying from Amazon! You can use this link to go to Amazon, and any purchase you make will kick a couple bucks to the show, with no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win!

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

  • 0:00 – Intro, which is the title theme from the game.
  • 40:20 – Emails! It’s all about Pokemon love.
  • 46:45 – It’s the feature sweeping the nation! Ask The Sweet Boys.
  • 58:00 – Snifferoo. Next week, we are experiencing the glory of the Olympics! In 16-bit form.

SHOW NOTES

– According to Price Charting, The Legend of the Mystical Ninja is still somewhat pricey. The loose cart is $28.34, and the box and manual ups the price to $84.98. However, it’s available for purchase via the Wii and Wii U virtual consoles.

Vidya Game News – July 28, 2016

Mario Golf - Toadstool Tour - GCN - Box Art– Nintendo is mining its past heavily for the Christmas season, as in addition to the NES Classic Edition, they also plan to come out with the Playing With Power: Nintendo NES Classics retrospective book on 17 games. Read more on the Prima Games site here.

– Hey, Sega also licensed their systems for new productions years ago! Except, according to Polygon, they kind of suck.

– From Geek, the Retroist has a fun feature on misleading Atari 2600 box art.

– Surprisingly, the new Ghostbusters game is just as bad as the old one, according to Brett Makedonski of Destructoid.

– On IGN and a bunch of other sites, a wireless receiver is now available to use PS4 and other current gen controllers on the SNES.

– Jason Schreier of Kotaku has a good retrospective on Final Fantasy III for the NES.

– Surprisingly, Honest Game Trailers tackles the awful Superman 64 this week.

ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour came out in 2003 for the Gamecube. It was the second game in the Mario Golf series and well-received during its release.

Pokemon Crystal came out on July 29, 2001 for the Game Boy Color. Seemingly, Nintendo is the only company releasing good games in the dog days of summer…

Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.

Episode 065 – Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (1992)

Episode 065 – Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (1992)

Episode 065 – Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (1992)

This week in Your Parents Basement, we are going where no man has gone before! From 1992, we’re playing Star Trek: 25th Anniversary developed by Interplay and published by Ultra (Konami) for the NES. We’re joined by special guest and lover of Ghostbusters (for real), Bob Hanson!

Set your phasers to STUN and manually download this week’s podcast here, or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

As always, if you like the show, support us by buying from Amazon! You can use this link to go to Amazon, and any purchase you make will kick a couple bucks to the show, with no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win!

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

  • 0:00 – Intro, which features the tiny bit of the Star Trek theme that is in the game’s main theme.
  • 54:00 – Emails! Ole Scooty writes in, and someone wants to know what Steve’s favorite number is.
  • 1:03:00 – It’s our fastest growing segment! Ask The Sweet Boys.
  • 1:14:00 – Snifferoo. For some reason, we’re actually playing a good game next week! One of the ultimate cult classics for the SNES.

SHOW NOTES

– According to Price Charting, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary is reasonably priced, at $10.80 for the loose cart and $29.14 for the box, manual and cart. The Next Generation is a bit more, in the $18.95 to $40 range.

– The Angry Video Game Nerd has covered a couple Star Trek games.

– Ultra was a publishing company for Konami, setup to bypass Nintendo’s strict five-per-year limit for companies in the U.S. Read more about the company on its Wikipedia page.

Vidya Game News – July 21, 2016

Shinobi III - Genesis - Box Art– Gizmodo has an awesome write-up of the find of a Seattle man: The incredibly rare Nintendo 64 disk drive.

– Of all places, Playboy has a long read on how the really good 2009 Ghostbusters game came together. You can read it here, although your work’s spam filter might block. And hey, listen to our show on the NES Ghostbusters here!

– Engadget has a good summary article of Ben Heck ripping into the “newly” discovered Nintendo-Sony CD unit.

– There is now a Kickstarter for the old NES Wisdom Tree games, which were pretty horrible games based on Bible stories. But still, if you want to support it, go here.

– Now in Japan! Kirby restaurants. (And check out our Kirby show.)

– From The Daily Mail, games like Mario Kart might make you a better driver, according to a study. (Check out our episode here!)

– Gizmodo’s Adam Clark Estes has a review of the Analogue NT, a souped-up clone of the NES. It’s basically like a great version of the NES Classic going on sale this November. And, oh, it costs $500.

– From Mashable and Reddit, Matt Damon might be interested in doing some video game stuff.

– Posted on a bunch of sites, including the developer site: Obduction, a spiritual successor to Myst, has been delayed from July 26 to the week of Aug. 22.

– Looking to move out of your parents basement? Booooo! But if you are, then don’t go to Worcester. Your parents’ basement is good enough for Jeff Teague, so it should be good enough for you.

ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…

– A pair of classic Genesis games, Shinobi III and Road Rash 2, came out in 1993.

– On July 22, 2008, a remake of Final Fantasy IV came out for the DS. It was… really bizarre. Developed by Matrix Software, it was in 3D and had an augment system that allowed you to power up characters after they left your party. The difficulty was also ramped up, and some story segments were added back in.

Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.

Episode 064 – Quest 64 (1998)

Episode 064 – Quest 64 (1998)

Episode 064 – Quest 64 (1998)

This week in Your Parents Basement, we are playing as the legendary, all-powerful and awe-inspiring magician… Brian. From 1998, we’re playing Quest 64 by Imagineer, and published by THQ, for the Nintendo 64.

You can manually download this week’s boringly generic podcast here or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

As always, if you like the show, support us by buying from Amazon! You can use this link to go to Amazon, and any purchase you make will kick a couple bucks to the show, with no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win!

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

  • 0:00 – Intro, which is the title theme for Quest 64, although it sounds more like The Nightly News with Peter Jennings.
  • 43:00 – During the emails, we get a new segment: Ask the Sweet Boys! And, the rest of the emails! Guess what, we’re playing Pokemon Go like the rest of the world!
  • 58:45 – Snifferoo. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, the opposite of next week’s game series was taking place.

SHOW NOTES

– According to Price Charting, Quest 64 is pretty cheap now. Loose carts go for $8.72, and the manual and box ups the price to $29.49. The only thing cheaper on the system are a slew of sports games.

Quest 64 is “new” enough that a review of it from 1998 still exists on Gamespot.

– TV Tropes writers had quite a bit of fun dissecting Quest 64.

Vidya Game News – July 14, 2016

A sweet baby boy NES!

A sweet baby boy NES!

– Pretty much everyone shared this article with Steve on a mini-NES loaded with 30 games. My mini-review: Eh. It’s kind of steep at $59.99, and there’s no indication whether you can load more games on to it. (Note: Nintendo later told Kotaku that no, you can’t.) The HDMI hook-ups are nice, though. However, it feels like a missed opportunity for the Big N. By offering a viable alternative to emulators – like a device that allowed for game downloads, using your old carts and third-party support – they could have taken a nice chunk away from that market.

– A fox takes a Playstation controller from a house and drops it in a garden. Video!

– From Kotaku’s Patrick Klepek, and some other sites, the Saturn’s copy protection has finally been cracked.

– Tech Radar has an interesting list of the most disappointing games of the past 10 years.

– Because Nintendo needs more of your monies, there is now Mario-themed Hot Wheels cars. Read about them on Gaming With Swag.

– Ron Gilbert, the creator Maniac Mansion, talks to Deveop’s James Batchelor about his new game, Thimbleweed Park.

– Anna Pulley, the author of The Lesbian Sex Haiku Book (With Cats!), loves Duck Tales.

ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…

WWF War Zone came out for the Playstation in 1998. Developed by Iguana West and published by Acclaim, it got pretty decent reviews, but tends to be overshadowed by other, better games.

– This was a popular time of year for NCAA Football games to come out, as 2005, 2009 and 2011 editions came out between July 13 and July 15. Unfortunately, the series is now defunct, as EA Sports couldn’t come to an agreement with some NCAA members.

Tales of Symphonia came out for the Gamecube on July 13, 2004. It was later ported to the PS2, and then an expanded version came out for the PS3. Namco is now up to seemingly 700 different Tales games, by the way.

Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.

Episode 063 – Ghostbusters (1988)

Episode 063 – Ghostbusters (1988)

Episode 063 – Ghostbusters (1988)

This week in Your Parents Basement, busting is NOT making us feel good! From 1988, we’re playing Ghostbusters by Bits Laboratory for the NES, which is based on an earlier Commodore 64 game.

You can manually download this week’s spooooky podcast here or subscribe to the show via the iTunes store. To manually subscribe, use this link in the device / podcast player of choice. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.

As always, if you like the show, support us by buying from Amazon! You can use this link to go to Amazon, and any purchase you make will kick a couple bucks to the show, with no extra cost to you. It’s a win-win!

Want to have an email or comment read on the air? Send us a message on the ole Twitter or Facebook, or, shoot that mail to parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com.

TIMESTAMPS

  • 0:00 – Intro, which features the Ghostbusters theme. As mentioned on the show, this is the only music for the entire game, and it plays on a god damn loop the entire time.
  • 51:30 – Emails! People wanna know about free-to-play games, and fightin’ games!
  • 1:04:15 – Snifferoo. There’s no way next week’s game will be worse than this week’s! Probably!

SHOW NOTES

– According to Price Charting, loose carts of Ghostbusters go for about $9.50. The box and manual will set you back about $30. However, for that price, you can buy the far superior Ghostbusters: The Video Game for the Wii, PS3 and 360. Do that instead.

– For a bunch of neat trivia, like the info on John Belushi originally being tabbed for Ghostbusters, check out this long Vanity Fair article.

Vidya Game News – July 7, 2016

Gran Turismo 3 - PS2 - Box Art– Polygon has an awesome full-length feature on where Blizzard’s Starcraft: Ghost went wrong.

– Also from Polygon, a good, long read by Colin Campbell on an Atari artwork book.

– A translation for Wizardry Gaiden IV has been released, according to the folks at ROMhacking.net. Check out this “new” SNES game here!

– Hadlee Simons at Gearburn has a look at five failed handheld systems.

– From various websites, Stephen Colbert attempts to eat a Hot Pocket quicker than a guy completes Super Mario Bros. 3. Video here!

– As expected, Nintendo shut down a Kickstarter project for an NES coffee table book.

– The latest video on Cracked from Cody Johnston is about how Christopher Nolan stole his ideas from DuckTales. No word yet from Todd how this infraction ranks on the DuckTales scale.

– From TechTimes, Paul Rudd has barely aged since starring in SNES commercials back in the day.

– Also on TechTimes, Chinese companies are constantly making bootleg games with all the Nintendo characters.

ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…

– On July 10, 2001, Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec came out for the Playstation 2. The effort from Polyphony Digital set a new standard for realistic racing games. The sixth installment came out in December 2013 to glowing reviews for the PS3, and Gran Turismo Sport is due out in November as a PS4 exclusive.

Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games. And as always, if you’d like to support the show, do so via our Amazon link.