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Game of the Hour: Quake
Other games discussed: Deathloop, Eastward, Tony Hawk Pro Skater
Episode 26 – Quake
Audio
Episode 25 – Umurangi Generation
Game of the hour: Umurangi Generation
Your intrepid photographer evades the UN police, sliding under some raggedly thrown up caution tape and bounding past b-boys and gawking tourists. She brings her camera up and shuffles through her duffel bag looking for the right lens: “50mm? 180? wide-angle?” Finally her fingers close around the fisheye; not great for wider compositions but sick as hell if you can get in close. She locks the lens onto its mounting and raises the camera to her eye in one smooth, buttery motion. This particular piece of graffiti deserves to be immortalized on film: “Tavit and Yussef: Best Budz Forever”
Other topics discussed: Moving on up(state), three years of catch-up, Hollow Knight, Odin’s Sphere, Mass Effect
Episode 24 – God of War
Game of the Hour: God of War
Topics discussed: Open world problems, Fatherhood & power fantasy, False redemption
Episode 19 – Injustice 2
Gliding powerfully out of the night, Batman alights on a rooftop and whips out his high-powered night vision binoculars with GPS targeting and a tiny unfoldable bayonet. Arriving a few minutes later, Supergirl walks up and asks him what he’s doing.
“Scanning for Superman, of course.”
“In that woman’s bedroom?” She gestures at the subject of Batman’s gaze, 6 stories up in the high-rise across the street.
“He could be anywhere,” the Bat tersely responds.
Supergirl flies away, shaking her head and muttering, “what a weirdo.”
Other games discussed: Tekken, Arms
Further Reading:
https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/06/chun-li-and-dante-look-weird-now-capcom/
Makoto is the character Yussef was thinking of. She is the best.
http://compete.kotaku.com/nintendo-responds-to-smash-bros-pros-callout-wants-to-1796177733
The Consequences of Reducing the Skill Gap
Yussef’s Article on Waypoint.com about Injustice 2 and the Death Penalty
The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu
Episode 18 – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Link slides the last metallic block into its proper niche and the puzzle’s giant mechanisms reassemble in satisfying staccato. He runs up to the monk’s platform and waits to receive another orb. The shrine’s papery deity stirs and begins slowly to intone:
“Your resourcefulness in overcoming this trial speaks to the promise of a hero… but, Link, it’s kind of cheesy that you used bombs and kinesis to solve yet another puzzle and you’re making us all look bad. The other monks have been talking. You’re a good kid, Link – just, no haxx plz?”
Special Guest: Michelle Ehrhardt (@ChelleEhrhardt) Freelance writer for KillScreen, Bullet Points Monthly, Paste and more.
Special Note: Bird chirps audible during the recording were totally a purposeful decision to help establish mood.
Further Reading:
Nick Robinson’s Shocking Shrine Hack
The person who found all 900 Koroks
Rumors of a female protagonist have been greatly exaggerated
Episode 17 – Yakuza 0
Kiryu drops the splintered chair he’s been holding in his white-knuckled grip. Around him dozens of badly-beaten yakuza groan in pain. Turning, he sees a group of adorable small children approaching. “Kiryu-San” they cry in unison, “Why did you beat up our papa(s)? Our families will surely starve tonight!” Kiryu’s expression softens. He proceeds to spend the next two in-game weeks winning them toys in the claw game.”
Further Reading:
Godzilla
God of War
Martin Scorsese’s films
Episode 16 – Hitman
Agent 47 and Lincoln Clay are walking around downtown while passing a joint back and forth. Their inebriation has led them to become somewhat lost. Up ahead a police officer twirls a baton on the street corner. Agent 47 turns to Clay and says “I’m gonna ask him for directions.” Clay, aghast, whispers “No! 47, No!” But 47 is resolute and walks up behind the cop, garroting him swiftly, and slipping into his uniform. He pulls the slide back on his handgun, turns to Lincoln and says: “I didn’t know I couldn’t do that.” (all thanks due to the great Dave Chappelle for this reference)
Further Reading:
The Americans TV Series
Tony Hawk
Crackdown
Grand Theft Auto Series
Dishonored 2
Mafia 3
The Autobiography of Malcom X
Ralph Ellison – Invisible Man
Herman Melville – Moby Dick
Assassin’s Creed Liberation
Evan Narcisse – “The Natural”
Watch Dogs 2
Episode 15 – Mafia 3
Lincoln leaves his chrome-wrapped car idling – “Black Ghost Blues” crooning out its speakers – and kicks down the doors of the mafia-controlled warehouse. He mows through nameless goons until finally he reaches the head goon. Laying his gun down the goon says “don’t you think you’re being a little divisive right now? Doesn’t our nation need time to heal? Have you ever looked at the statistics on black on black crime?”
Special Guest: Shawn Alexander Allen @aNuChallenger co-creator of Treachery in Beatdown City
Further Reading:
Bloomberg offered security detail jobs as private security guards
Bill DeBlasio wants Federal Government to pay for Trump’s NYC security expenses
https://inversephase.bandcamp.com/
Map of Escape from New York:
Malcolm X and The Nation of Islam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUdM9vrCbow
Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man
Washington Post – Mafia 3 took risk by having black protagonist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytkjQvSk2VA
Episode 14 – Game of the Hour of the Year
Join us as we discuss the most interesting and memorable games of 2016.
It was a pretty shitty year, but we’ve found a shred of solace in the digital media with which we tend to pass our free time. Whether it’s through telling good stories or fostering supportive communities, games remain important even as larger issues threaten to overwhelm us.
We cap off the podcast with our hopes and dreams for gaming in 2017, bringing up VR, games criticism, Nintendo’s prospects and diversity in the games space.
Games discussed:
Dishonored 2, Hitman, Overcooked, Uncharted 4, Titanfall 2, Doom, Dark Souls 3, The Witness, Shin Megami Tensei, Inside
My Waypoint article discussing Doom & Inside
Episode 13 – No Man’s Sky
You blast out of hyperspace just in time to begin your descent through the looming planet’s atmosphere. In the periphery your hull glows red, then begins to cool. The landing jets of your ship flare up as you dust down on the lush and colorful surface. You pop open the cockpit hatch and set out to explore a new and exciting world, when behind you, you hear a floppy wet squeak. You whip around, and upon seeing the poor misbegotten creature, fall to you knees in despair. “No, not squishy butt planet again!”
Other games discussed: Persona 4 Golden, Severed, Her Story, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Shuhei Yasuda interview about No Man’s Sky’s broken promises