Vidya Game News – June 16, 2016
– Want to know how the Warcraft movie did? Well, Paul Tassi of Forbes.com has a piece on it, and the headline probably says it all: “The ‘Warcraft’ movie is a crushing disappointment in almost every way.” Well, then. On Rotten Tomatoes, it’s sitting at 27 percent with critics, but surprisingly, 82 percent with the audience. However, shockingly, the movie opened up to $156M in five days in China, which beats out the opens of the latest Star Wars and Fast and Furious franchises. For more on that, read this piece from Wired.
– To look at the reverse, Evan Hoovler of blastr has a fun list of the worst video games based on movies or TV shows. Included on the list is past YPB subject Superman 64, of course.
– Also on blastr, Dany Roth has another good list, this one on 10 SNES games that deserve a comeback. Spoiler alert: Two are on the schedule for future YPB episodes.
– Simon Parkin of Ars Technica has a good, long read on the history of Team17, makers of the Worms series.
– In honor of E3, Nintendo has deeply discounted some older games, like $5 for A Link to the Past. Check out the full list on their site.
– This week’s James and Mike Mondays game is Kung Fu Heroes for the NES. Check it out here.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– In 2002, Neverwinter Nights was released for the PC on June 16, 17 or 18, depending on the source you use. The BioWare RPG was the company’s follow-up to its Baldur’s Gate series, and it was both well-reviewed and well-bought by consumers. Elements of the game engine were used later for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age.
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 053 – Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988)
Episode 053 – Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988)
This week in Your Parents Basement, we are celebrating our anniversary! It’s time to go back to the Mario series, as we’re playing Super Mario Bros. 2 by Nintendo for the NES.
You can manually download this week’s glowing, jumping and vegetable-tossing 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 has the awesome title theme from the game.
- 38:00 – Steve may or may not have remembered to put in some tunes from the Minibosses.
- 46:15 – Emails! We hear from some of our favorite writers of the past year.
- 1:01:30 – Snifferoo. Todd Brisket has nominated a game that focuses on story, space-shooting and other fun stuff!
SHOW NOTES
– According to Price Charting, Super Mario Bros. 2 retains its value fairly well! The loose cart price is $20, and the box and manual bumps the price up to $37. New-condition copies go for $293. Super Mario Advance ranges from $9.50 to $41.50, since it’s much newer.
– The full Minibosses Super Mario Bros. 2 medley can be found here on YouTube.
– Chris Kohler of Wired has a good long read from 2011 on the secret history of the game.
Episode 049 – Maniac Mansion (1987, 1990)
Episode 049 – Maniac Mansion (1987, 1990)
This week in Your Parents Basement, we are pointing and clicking our way through a creepy house as we try to save our girlfriend with plastic fruit, exploding hamsters and a Weird Edsel! From 1987 and 1990, we’re playing Maniac Mansion by Lucasfilm Games (the predecessor to LucasArts) for the PC and NES.
You can manually download this week’s weird 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 tentacle and Edison family theme from Maniac Mansion. You can find a full soundtrack on YouTube here. And also, for today’s show, we’re joined by special guest DJ!
- 44:45 – Emails! What’s our favorite Tetris piece? Who would write our theme songs? What about games based on TV game shows? Altavista???
- 1:11:30 – A snifferoo from next week’s show, which is another LucasArts game! Huzzah!
SHOW NOTES
– According to Price Charting, Maniac Mansion has held its value well, as a cult classic. Loose carts of the NES version go for about $19, with the price swelling to $80 for the box and manual, to $222 for “new” copies. The PC version starts at around $30, although it’s also available in digital-only formats for much cheaper.
– Also, as mentioned on the show, the sequel, Day of the Tentacle, has been re-released. It’s going for about $15 on the PS4 and PC. The game does have a really neat Easter egg though – The original Maniac Mansion is playable in full on a computer in the game.
– Also also as mentioned on the show, the Japanese Maniac Mansion looks like a weird tech demo for the NES. Check it out here. And, the TV show is viewable here.
– Wanna read one of the oldest things on the internet, kind of? Wired has an article from Douglas Crockford, who worked on Maniac Mansion for LucasArts. It’s the longform article DJ was talking about, and you can find it here. It’s a really interesting read on what they had to take out of the game.
Vidya Game News – July 30, 2015
Whew, the weather is heating up just as July is on its way out! But thankfully, there is some good gamin’ news to help you through these miserable temperatures. (Note: Your region may vary.) On to the proper post!
– Ernie Smith of Atlas Obscura has an incredible piece on the Brazilian video game market, where the Sega Master System still sells 150,000 units a year.
– A cool documentary idea: Two guys try to buy as much of a NES collection as they can in 30 days. The film is called Nintendo Quest, and Geek & Sundry’s Robert Workman has an article on it here.
– In other Nintendo news, the company posted a surprising first quarter profit, per Financial Times and many other sites. The gains were attributed to better cost controls and the performance of Splatoon, a new shooter IP for the Wii U.
– Per Wired and other sites, Dragon Quest XI is the first confirmed game for the Nintendo NX, along with the 3DS and Playstation 4, confusingly. In comparison to Square Enix’s other big series, Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest games are usually simpler graphically, so the series could be on multiple, divergent platforms.
– The podcast I’m sure everyone was clamoring for: A game-by-game one on the Atari Jaguar! You can check it out here.
– From Wired’s Klint Finley, an article and linked YouTube on the “hot tech rivalry” between Amiga and Atari.
– James O’Malley at Gizmodo UK writes about a poll of British gamers and voters. Conservatives love Candy Crush, whereas Labour voters like that and Grand Theft Auto.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– In 1993, Ecco the Dolphin came out for the Sega Master System. The release date does vary depending on what site you look at, but the general dates are from July 29 to July 31 for the game’s release.
– Pokemon Crystal, a Game Boy color special edition of the gold and silver versions of that game series, came out in North America in 2001.
– And since it is still July, almost nothing else came out. (For the second week in a row!) Womp womp womp.
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 9, 2015
Holy crap, a Nintendo Playstation!
First, some important show-related news! You can now support us whenever you’re making a purchase on Amazon. Got something to buy? Do it via this link, and we’ll get a cut of your sale, at no extra cost to you. It can be for any goods, even non-vidya game stuff, and we’d definitely appreciate it! (Let us know if you make a purchase, and you’ll get a shout-out on the show. ❤ )
Surprisingly, even though we’re now in the dog days of summer, it was a great week for news. The biggest of which…
– A prototype of the 1991 collaboration between Nintendo and Sony on a CD-based system has been unearthed [right]. Polygon’s Brian Crecente had a good interview with the guy who found it, and that’s also where the picture comes from. That system eventually became the Playstation. (And to hype that Amazon thingy once again, there is an awesome breakdown of the rise and fall of Sega, and how Sony’s Playstation factored in, via Console Wars.) Some folks online aren’t convinced the prototype is real, but no one official has come out strongly to refute it.
– Speaking of failed Nintendo projects, Jon Fingas from Engadget details how Project H.A.M.M.E.R. became vaporware over the course of six years of painful development.
– Have you ever played Missile Command, Centipede or Asteroids and thought, “Man, wouldn’t this be cooler as a graphic novel???” … Okay, me neither. But hey, Dynamite Entertainment has you covered, via an article from UK Wired’s Matt Kamen.
– A neat feature, if you like readin’, from Matt Gander at Games Asylum. In “We’ve Got Issues,” he covers the Dreamcast magazine wars of the United Kingdom.
– I must begrudgingly give credit to Food and Wine’s millennial section for featuring “the ultimate bar setup for Nintendo nerds.” It includes Mario pipe shot glasses, Legend of Zelda ice cube trays and NES Zapper bottle openers.
ON THIS DAY IN VIDEO GAME HISTORY…
– The Wizard’s Castle was released in 1980. Like many other games “featured” in this here blog in July, well, there really wasn’t much to choose from in terms of releases. However, the awesome CRPG Addict has an exhaustive review of the game available. It should not be confused with the wonderful Home Movies episode “The Wizard’s Baker.”
– Cryptic Studios was incorporated in 2000. They’re the makers of popular online multiplayer games City of Heroes and spinoff City of Villains.
Video game history information comes from GameFAQs and Moby Games.
Your Parents Basement 