Episode 005 – NBA Jam (1993)
In this week’s Your Parents Basement podcast, the gang tackles NBA Jam on the eve of the NBA finals! Like all good sports programmes, they use the game to predict the final of the series, and they also talk about their other favorite basketball-based video games, like Scottie Pippen’s Puzzle Challenge.
To download this week’s show, click here! You can also subscribe to the show via iTunes, or manually use this link. If you like the show, be sure to give us some starrrrssss. You can also follow us on Twitter, or ‘like’ us on Facebook.
The show notes for this week:
- A download of NBA Jam for iOS devices is free this week. This is the On Fire edition we mention at the end of the game discussion. It’s quite splendid on my PS3, although I’m not sure how well it translates to iOS.
- At one point, Huell mentions a ranking of the “best” NBA Jam teams by Deadspin. You can find that here. It is humorously presented with absolutely no summary information for the decisions.
- Mike Iuzzolino’s NBA career was so short that his Wikipedia entry has a mention to his appearance in NBA Jam. It’s an unplanned career highlight!
- When NBA Jam was being remade for the Wii, ESPN.com ran a good interview with a producer from the game. He gets into how EA Sports procured the rights for making a new version of the game, which evolved from a prototype clone called Bounce. The Wikipedia entry on the series also has some information on the Midway and Acclaim split.
- Unfortunately, Scottie Pippen’s Puzzle Challenge and Space Jam Basketball do not exist (yet). However, Shaq Fu, Michael Jordan: Chaos In The Windy City, and Barkley Shut Up and Jam! do absolutely exist. They are varying degrees of “meh,” although Sir Charles’ game is actually kind of OK… it just features no other NBA players, so why would you ever want to play it instead of NBA Jam? And shockingly, Pippen DOES have his own video game: Slam City With Scottie Pippen on the Sega CD. It is not well-reviewed.
- Finally, a fun list from a blog: The 11 Current NBA Players Who Have Never Dunked.
Vidya Game News – May 28, 2015
“I love the Power Glove… I’m the only one. It’s so bad. Like you really can’t do shit with it.”
It’s the debut of a semi-new feature! We’ve scoured some online sites in an attempt to find some retro gamin’ news you might find interesting, to whet your appetite between shows. Except to see regular news posts on Thursdays for the next couple of weeks as we try this out. So, without further adieu…
– Remember how cool The Wizard was? Well… Not actually. But similar to that movie, there will be a 2015 Nintendo World Championships, as reported by Games Radar and tons of other sites. The entry rounds being held at eight Best Buy locations. For more info, go here.
– Just as a technical project, someone is porting Wolfenstein 3D to the Genesis. Like… they’re doing it now, in 2015. You can see a YouTube video here, and there is a message board posting about it here.
– For the Genesis and the SNES, there is a vibrant homebrew / indie scene. Example: here is a Kickstarter for a new SNES (and possibly NES) platform game.
– A port of Dragon Quest VIII is coming out for the 3DS.
– Sega is pulling a bunch of different games from its iOS offerings, per Pocket Gamer. Games removed include Streets of Rage 2, Gunstar Heroes, Shining Force and Sonic Spinball.
– On Reddit’s GameCollecting subreddit, someone managed to get their hands on TWO copies of DuckTales 2 at the same time! The subreddit itself has some other nice finds.
– A deep dive from Nintendo Life on the cancellation of Star Fox 2, from someone who worked on the game and played a completed Japanese ROM of it. However, a release and translation are probably unlikely, given legal issues with the now-defunct Argonaut Software.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– … Well, kind of. Super Mario Bros. the movie was released in 1993, and it bombed. Per Box Office Mojo, it only made $20.9 million on a $48 million production budget. It only opened fourth on its first weekend, behind “classics” like Cliffhanger, Made in America and Dave. It was out of theaters in about four weeks. The full movie is often posted on YouTube, and really, that’s a better option that expending any cash for that trash.
– Notable game releases: Mass Effect (2008), Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (1999), Crazy Taxi 2 and Dark Cloud (2001).
For the full list of history items, check out Moby Games.
Episode 004: Vectorman (1995)
Genesis does what Nintendont! Vectorman is hellishly hard, but it’s fun to turn from balls into a bomb and to explooodddeeee!
On today’s show, Steve, Todd and Huell are joined by their (non-British) friend Pip to talk about how impossible this game is, unless you’re using the Game Genie. (Yes, even save states aren’t enough to overcome Vectorman!) There is also talk of Genesis vs. Super Nintendo, and Vectorman vs. Donkey Kong Country. And of course, balls and Ballz.
To listen, click here! You can subscribe to future shows in the iTunes store – be sure to give us some starrrsss! – or by manually using this address: https://ypbpodcast.com/category/podcasts/feed/
Be sure to listen to the Snifferoo at the end, and if you’re interested in guesting on the show this week, send us an email at parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Twitter, or Facebook.
Show notes for this episode:
- Vectorman can be purchased on Steam for $2.99, or as part of larger Sega classics packages for $7.50 or $29.99. Hard copies on eBay are going for about $5 to $10, and unlike some other games we’ve covered, the inclusion of the box and manual only ups the price range to $15 to $25. Vectorman 2 is in a similar price range.
- The Snifferoo from last week was the main theme from Vectorman, which can be listened to on YouTube here. The commercial that provides the opening music for this week’s ‘sode is here.
- Balls? No, Ballz!
Episode 003: DuckTales (1989)
Episode 003: DuckTales (1989)
In Duckburg, life is like a hurricane – race cars, lasers, airplanes, it’s a duck-blur! You might solve a mystery, or re-write history. DuckTales! woohoo!
That fine hamlet of Duckburg is the subject of this week’s Your Parents Basement, as our third episode tackles 1989’s DuckTales for the NES. You can listen to the show by clicking here.
Like what you hear? You can subscribe to future episodes via the iTunes Store, or manually add this to your podcast listenin’ device: https://ypbpodcast.com/category/podcasts/feed/
We are absolutely looking for guests and ideas for future shows! For both, please email them to us – parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com – as opposed to leaving them as comments. You can also follow us on Twitter.
Show notes for this episode:
- Jessica Nigri is the cosplayer that was the visual inspiration for Lollipop Chainsaw. OneeChanbara, the other chainsaw character mentioned by Todd, is barely able to link to. Here is the Wikipedia entry, because anywhere else you look on the web is pretty much NSFW.
- The snifferoo from last week comes from this YouTube video, which is the memorable Moon Stage theme. The remastered version is also quite good. The main NES theme can be heard here.
- Someone beating DuckTales in about nine minutes can be seen here. A more leisurely 30+ minute play is here.
- Want to buy DuckTales? The remastered version is your best bet, with hard copies in the $15 to $20 range, and digital copies ranging from $5 to $15, depending on whether there is a sale or not. As Todd mentioned on the pod, it’s currently on sale on Steam for $7.50, through Tuesday.
- The NES cart ranges from $5 to $20 on eBay, depending on what condition you want it in. And as with most NES games, you can up the price to around $40 to $60 if you want the box and manual.
- As mentioned on the show, DuckTales 2 for the NES is hard to find. A complete package of the box, manual and cart are going for $400. The cart by itself is in the $150 to $200 range. Just the manual is selling for $138. There don’t seem to be any plans in the works to give it a remaster or port treatment.
- An explanation of how DuckTales came to be remastered is on this message board.
Episode 002: X-Men (1992)
Episode 002: X-Men (1992)
The 1992 X-Men arcade beat ’em up is the second game tackled by Steve Greenwell, Huell and Todd Brisket on Your Parents Basement Podcast, even if it required us leaving the cozy confines of the basement back in the day. Click here to listen!
Want to subscribe to future episodes? Pop this link into your podcastin’ device or iTunes! You can also subscribe by searching for “Your Parents Basement” in the iTunes store. We are absolutely looking for guests and ideas for future shows! For both, please email them to us – parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com – as opposed to leaving them as comments. (Mystery is good for the rest of the listening audience!) You can also follow us on Twitter.
Supplemental material for today’s show:
- The piano tease from last week can be found on YouTube here.
- A gameplay video of the final stage.
- A short, December 2013 article from Polygon on the expiration of X-Men from the various online stores.
- Hey, isn’t the timeline of the Marvel movie universe confusing? It sure is! But if you want to deep dive, go here.
- The TV Tropes article on Wolverine Publicity, a.k.a., “Wolverine does not appear in this issue.”
- The lead graphic on this post comes from this blog.
Episode 001 – Super Mario Bros. + The Lost Levels
Episode 001 – Super Mario Bros. and The Lost Levels
Your Parents Basement is meant to be a fun podcast project, where some folks talk about their favorite classic games. Click here for our first episode on Super Mario Bros., as well as its way-too-hard counterpart, The Lost Levels.
Want to follow along to future episodes? Add this feed to your podcastin’ device: https://yourparentsbasementpodcast.wordpress.com/category/podcasts/feed/ We are absolutely looking for guests and game ideas for future shows! For both, please email them to us – parentsbasementpodcast@gmail.com – as opposed to leaving them as comments. (Mystery is good for the rest of the listening audience!) You can also follow us on Twitter. Supplemental material for today’s show:
- The opening theme comes from this helpful YouTube video.
- The Super Mario Bros. Super Show with “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.
- Console Wars by Blake Harris, which was the first book I read that really focused on the rise and fall of Sega during the Genesis era from that company’s perspective.
- “The Secret History of Super Mario Bros. 2” from Wired, which talks about that game’s true origin.
- A deep dive on the failures of the Super Mario Bros. movie on Grantland. The movie rights changed hands in December 2014, suggesting that a second attempt might be coming soon.
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