Vidya Game News – September 29, 2016
Happy birthday, Nintendo 64!
– GamesIndustry.biz has an awesome, long interview with Rand Miller of Cyan Worlds on Myst, Obduction and releasing a game without a strong publisher. You can read it here, and listen to our show on Myst here!
– Brian Shea at Game Informer has a good piece on how Sega and Nintendo finally made peace over the years, and how Sonic appeared on a Nintendo platform. You can read it here.
– The spiritual successor to River City Ransom, River City: Toyko Rumble, has scooped up a good review from GameSpot. Listen to our show on the original game here.
– The early reviews on Sonic Mania are good so far.
– From The Daily Dot and other sites, the Warcraft movie now has an Honest Trailer out for it. Listen to our review of the game series here!
– PCMag.com has a slideshow on seven Mario games that never made it to the U.S.
ON THIS DAY (OR CLOSE TO IT!) IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– The Nintendo 64 came out for everyone today in 1996. It was kind of a big deal. Past N64 games we’ve covered: Quest 64, Superman 64, Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye and Star Fox 64.
– By the way, it seems weird, but Pokemon Red and Blue came out in Sept. 28, 1998 – two years AFTER the Nintendo 64 was released.
– A little game called Fallout came out for the PC on Sept. 30, 1997. Amazing, a sequel came out only a year later. Both games had more in common with the X-Com series than the action-RPG Fallout has become, but they were very well-reviewed.
– Tales of Destiny, the second game in that popular series, came out on Sept. 30, 1998 for the PlayStation. In this game from Namco and Wolf Team, you play as Stahn and kill things with a big sword. It’s a weird kind of RPG-action game, but well-reviewed and well-received.
– Crash Team Racing, a completely and utterly original kart racing game, came out on Sept. 30, 1999. For more on Crash Bandicoot, check out our episode from a few weeks ago. And if you’d prefer our thoughts on some other racing game, try this episode.
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.
Vidya Game News – September 22, 2016
– Ohmygodness: A mock 1996 infomercial for the upcoming Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition is incredibleeee.
– From PopSugar and a bunch of other sites, Laurie Hernandez did a routine based on DuckTales on Dancing With The Stars. You can see it here! And check out our episode on DuckTales here!
– Game Rant has an article on the six biggest gaming breakups, in “honor” of Brad and Angelina.
– Nintendo News and other sites note that The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 is now available on Steam.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Divine Divinity from Larian Studios came out for the PC in 2002. The action-RPG was well-reviewed when it came out, and it remains a bit of a cult classic.
– On Sept. 23, 2002, Star Fox Adventures was released for the Gamecube. It was the first game to take the series in a weird, non-space sim direction. (And hey, check out our episode on the better, original game and the N64 game!)
– On the same day, Tekken 4 came out. Namco’s fighter was considered very good.
– Capcom’s Mega Man 9 was released for the Wii in 2008, followed shortly by the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade. It was a well-received continuation of the series, the first game in 11 years.
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 073 – Kid Chameleon (1992)
Episode 073 – Kid Chameleon (1992)
This week in Your Parents Basement, we are putting on masks to gain super powers! From 1992, we’re playing Kid Chameleon by Sega for the Genesis.
You can manually download this week’s mediocre 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.
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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 opening theme from the game.
- 33:00 – Emails! An old friend writes in, along with a foul-mouthed one, and one asking Huell something special.
- 51:00 – It’s everyone’s favorite segment, even more so than the show itself! Ask the Sweet Boys.
- 56:00 – Snifferoo. It’s a star-studded show about the entertainment industry!
SHOW NOTES
– According to Price Charting, Kid Chameleon is reasonably priced at $12.30 for the loose cart, or $20 for the box and cart. It’s also available on a bunch of Sega collections and individually, for $5 to $10.
– Mark Cerny worked on Kid Chameleon, Sonic 2 and a bunch other games.
– There is a Growing Pains video game, but unfortunately, it’s not based on the 1980s sitcom.
Vidya Game News – September 15, 2016
– Aaron Couch of The Hollywood Reporter has a good, long interview with Darkwing Duck creator Tad Stones, which you can read here. Among the revelations? The show wasn’t a spin-off of DuckTales, as instead, it took place in an alternate dimension. And by the way, check out our DuckTales episode here.
– The AV Club’s William Hughes spoke to Myst creator Rand Miller on his favorite puzzles, and how that game almost became a Disney ride. Read it here! And listen to our Myst episode here!
– In a good interview with MCV’s Alex Calvin, Sega’s European boss Jurgen Post admits that the company was pushing out too much crap during the Wii-era.
– From Polygon and other sites, Blizzard’s Chris Metzen is retiring. He was serving as the senior vice president of story and franchise development, and joined the company in the early 1990s as an illustrator and animator. He was responsible for expanding the lore of Warcraft, Diablo and StarCraft.
– And speaking of Blizzard… One of its low lights, the cancelled Warcraft Adventures, has made its way to the Internet. Check out our show on the actual Warcraft series here.
– Did You Know Gaming covers Super Mario World this week, via Nerdist.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Animal Crossing came out today in 2002 in North America. It was yet another blockbuster series established by Nintendo.
– Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance was released on Sept. 16, 2002 for the Gameboy Advance. It was fun! It mixed the classic gameplay with RPG elements.
– A Dragon Quest IV remake, Chapters of the Chosen, came out on Sept. 16, 2008. It took the gameplay of the original, but included manual control for the later chapters (yay!), but also gave everyone weird accents (boo!). New this week is a remake of Dragon Quest VII for the 3DS, which turns it into a much better, playable game, per Attack of the Geek’s Dean James.
– FTL: Faster Than Light came out on Sept. 14, 2012. No, it’s not a classic game, but it’s hella good! You definitely need to play it if you like games.
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.
Vidya Game News – September 8, 2016
– So! Nintendo, as usual, has been aggressive pursuing fan games using their characters, with the latest target being a mash-up of Mario and No Man’s Sky. Those developers responded by turning it into DCMA’s Sky. You can read more on Polygon here.
– From The Dreamcast Junkyard, a great series of articles on their hunt to find a legendary barber from some commercials.
– The Couch Potato over at New Castle News has a fine personal essay on his experiences with Super Mario Bros. 3, the Super Nintendo and other gaming stuff. Read it here.
– Reddit and YouTube deliver this week with Midway’s pitch video to the NBA for a little game called NBA Jam. You can check out the video here, and listen to our episode on Jam here!
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– A little deep, story-driven game known as Final Fantasy VII came out for the PlayStation on September 7, 1997. The indie darling sold a ton of copies, and it’s wildly recognized for popularizing RPGs outside of Japan. (And by the way, the PlayStation itself came out on September 9, 1995.)
– Parasite Eve, an oft-mentioned favorite of Steve, came out September 9, 1998. It was an odd action RPG with guns that spawned an incredibly underrated sequel, and an iffy PSP game with a completely indecipherable plot.
– Also from 1998: Spyro the Dragon! The little purple dragon started doing like, dragon stuff, on Sept. 10. By Insomniac Games, it was pretty popular with a wide range of gamers, including more casual folks.
– 9/9/99 for $199! The Sega Dreamcast came out on Sept. 9, 1999. God, it was such an awesome little system, but Sega eventually lost its stomach for the console business. It had a strong start that it ceded as hype for the PlayStation 2 ramped up.
– Ready 2 Rumble Boxing by Midway came out in 1999 for the Dreamcast, and then later for the N64, PSX and Gameboy Color. The colorful boxing came made people more nostalgic for better boxing games, but it sold well.
– Also for the Dreamcast in 1999: Soulcalibur! The fighter from Namco featured a heavy emphasis on weapons, and it was highly rated at the time and in ensuing years as the series continued.
– Final Fantasy Tactics Advance bastardized a great PSX game, but, well, it came out this day in 2003 for the Gameboy Adance. Some people like it. Those people are wrong.
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.
Vidya Game News – September 2, 2016
– IGN’s Alex Osborn has a great interview with Peter Moore, talking about why Sega failed as a hardware company. Understandably, the Saturn was seen as a turning point.
– From Mattel, via Polygon, Hot Wheels versions of Nintendo characters are coming soon! They actually look pretty nifty, so, congrats Nintendo. Thank you for successfully taking more of my money.
– Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey is available on Netflix as of Sept. 1. You can listen to our episode on the horrible vidya game here!
– Chris Schilling of VICE writes about how the Nintendo DS was his deepest love, when it came to vidya game systems.
– From noted video game journalism outlet InStyle, Christina Aguilera’s daughter had a Mario-themed party for her second birthday.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Command and Conquer, the first title of that popular series, came out on Aug. 31, 1995. The PC game from Westwood Studios became a staple of online RTS duels for years and years. It sold more than three million copies, and the series has sold more than 30 million units.
– An awesome character known as Crash Bandicoot had his initial release for the Playstation on Aug. 31, 1996. More on him Monday though.
– On the other end of the PSX spectrum… Released on Aug. 31, 1996, Beyond the Beyond terrorized Steve as a teen. He loved turn-based RPGs, but one of the main “features” of the game by Camelot Software was lugging around a cursed character for several hours. Fun, fun, fun.
– Guitar Hero 5 from Neversoft came out in 2009. It was the second-to-last hurrah for the series, as it was already starting to slowdown before Warriors of Rock came out in 2010.
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.
Vidya Game News – August 26, 2016
– Celebrating its birthday this week? The Super Nintendo! Aaron Couch from The Hollywood Reporter has a good piece here, which features some good stuff from Blake J. Harris, the author of Console Wars. Over at SB Nation, Marc Normandin and others write about their four favorite sports games for the system.
– Cool graphics from Video Game Densetsu, as they collected some old Sega pixel-making.
– The new Toejam & Earl game, Back in the Groove has picked up an appropriate publisher: Adult Swim! Read more from Michael McWhertor on Polygon. Our episode on the game is here!
– Boing Boing and a bunch of other sites had a link to a hamster finishing a Super Mario Bros. level.
– From a couple different sites, an Epic Donald game was considered at various points.
– Obduction, a spiritual successor to Myst, has gotten a good review from PC World and from Polygon. And hey, check out our episode on Myst here!
– Nintendo has acquired JESNET, a console distribution company in Japan, for $46.5 million. It’s seen as a sign of the big N ramping up console production for the NX.
– On Cinemassacre this week! Mike and Bootsy play Where’s Waldo, a notoriously crappy game. And, Mike and James have a showdown, the U-Force vs. the Power Glove.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Today was a good day for games. First, Ecco: The Tides of Time came out for the Genesis. It was the sequel to the first game, and the hottest dolphin game of 1994.
– A little game called Goldeneye came out in 1997! We covered that awesome, FPS from Rare on a past episode here.
– Super Mario Sunshine came out for the Gamecube on Aug. 26, 2002. It’s 14 years old! God, it feels like it came out yesterday.
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.
Vidya Game News – July 21, 2016
– 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.
Vidya Game News – June 23, 2016
– Cool: An Ecco the Dolphin prototype for Dreamcast has been found. Read more here.
– This week, blastr has another cool list, this one on 10 Genesis games that deserve comebacks. It’s by Dany Roth and you can read it here. Included are past YPB games Comix Zone and Vectorman!
– Natsume had a busy E3, as they showed sequels and remakes for Harvest Moon, Wild Guns and River City Ransom. Read a write-up from Gaming Illustrated’s Greg Johnson here. And, listen to our River City Ransom show here!
– From James Vincent at The Verge, Warcraft is now the highest-grossing film based on a video game of all-time, thanks to its strength in China. It surpassed Prince of Persia, which finished with $336 million. Warcraft is up to $378 million and counting. (And for our Warcraft show, go here!) Allison Elkin at VICE has a piece on what ex-World of Warcraft players think of the movie.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– Guess who turns 26? Sonic! The first game in the series, Sonic The Hedgehog, came out this day in 1991. The series is still alive, by the way.
– Also, on this day in 1996, the Nintendo 64 was released in Japan. It was a pretty, pretty, pretty good system. Pilotwings 64 and Super Mario 64 were the prominent launch games.
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 060 – Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker (1990)
Episode 060 – Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker (1990)
This week in Your Parents Basement, we are dancing and crotch-grabbing our way past enemies! From 1990, we’re playing Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker by Sega for the Genesis, with special guest Backsack!
You can manually download this week’s non-ignorant 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 Genesis version of “Beat It.”
- 43:30 – Emails! Ole Scooty writes in, but Cosmo beats him with two letters of her own, as well as one from Pascal’s Pager.
- 1:08:30 – Snifferoo. Once again, we are LITERALLY playing God in a game.
SHOW NOTES
– According to Price Charting, Moonwalker is actually a somewhat rare game. Loose copies cost $40, with the box and manual upping the price to $68.99.
– The Huffington Post has a story on how Jackson probably composed some music for Sonic 3.
Your Parents Basement 