Wednesday, December 30, 2015

EXP Podcast #361: 2015 Game of the Year Leftovers

The freshest toy of this holiday season.
Our Game of the Year plates were just too full to accommodate everything last week, so this week we talk about some more of our favorite games from 2015.  It's like a delicious, unending plate of leftovers, so pile it high and indulge yourself.  Don't worry, the squid is totally fine to eat; it's only been in the fridge for a few months...

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

- Runtime: 38 mins 53 secs
- Music by Brad Sucks

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Super Mario Maker: Mr. Saturn Stops By

We contemplate our futures as the architects of the Mushroom Kingdom's destruction.  Perhaps Mr. Saturn will save us?


Thursday, December 24, 2015

Making Merry (and Mario)

Chimneys are just a kind of pipe I suppose.
Hey everyone!  We're wrapping up the 2015 with an awards show and some game of the year selections.  Check back next week for some game of the year honorable mentions.

Speaking of games of the year, I'm taking advantage of the holidays to do a little Mario making.  Nothing like staying nice and warm on a cold winter's night by creating courses to delight and troll loved ones.

Check out my Mario Maker profile here: https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/profile/sjuster

Jorge has also been up to some mischief: https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/profile/Shenmoot

The more I play this game the more impressive it gets, so maybe my New Year's resolution will be to keep playing and making throughout 2016.  By the end of the year I'll either become a master level designer or lose complete trust in my fellow human beings.  Of course I suppose those two things aren't mutually exclusive.

Talk to you all soon!

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

EXP Podcast #360: Games of the Year 2015

Geralt isn't on our list. And he looks pissed.
What a year is has been for gaming! We've browsed through police interviews, parachuted through the sky, and dug deep into the earth. Now, as 2015 draws to a close, Scott and I return for our annual Game of the Year discussion. As always, we encourage you to share your favorite games that you've played. Yes, even if that includes The Witcher.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

- Runtime: 56 mins 30 secs
- Intrio & Outro Music by Brad Sucks

SPOILERS
- Additional music from the Super Mario Maker, Rocket League, Life is Strange, Bloodborne, and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain OSTs respectively.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Happy HotS-idays 2015

'Tis the season for wielding a huge hammer and smacking our enemies in the face in Heroes of the Storm! This week Scott takes Murradin into battle.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Love-Hating Fallout 4

Dogmeat is sick of this shit too.
I'm in love-hate with Fallout 4.

It's actually really difficult to settle on how I feel about the game as a whole. When asked by my coworkers if I'm liking the game, I mostly respond with, "sometimes," which usually receives a knowing nod of the head.

I'm clearly not the only one annoyed by small petty inconsistencies in the otherwise alluring game. Scott agreed with me earlier this week in our 2015 Gamey Awards in which we gave Fallout 4 both the Unjustified Rage award and Gamiest Game of the Year award. It's our own fake award show, but still.

The loud generators have pestered other players enough to have their very own Quieter Generator Sound mod. I'm not crazy, it really is annoying. There is also a mod for changing color gradients of your pip boy, another for labeling your settlement occupants for easy job management, and even one for stopping the player character from interrupting NPC conversations (Seriously, it's rude and weird). All of this is to say the world Bethesda created is fascinating, but it lives upon a shambling, cobbled-together mess of a game. At least modders care enough to fix it.

For me though, currently playing on PS4, these fractures in Fallout 4 make it hard to love.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

EXP Podcast #359: Experience Points Presents the 2015 Gamey Awards

Sorry winners; we couldn't afford real trophies.
It seems like anyone and everyone can have an awards show these days, so we've decided to test that theory.  This week, we introduce our very own, highly serious, and extremely dignified awards show that will from here onwards be referred to as "The Gamies."  Ever wanted to know what was the most tempting money-waster or who was the best waifu/husbandu of 2015?  No?  Well too bad because we're going to tell you anyway.


- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

SPOILERS BELOW



2015 Nominees and Winners for the Gamies

The “I really shouldn’t buy that but I want it” award
  • Xbone Pro-controller 
  • Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival 
  • American flag Jim Raynor in HOTS
  • Any VR technology 
  • The yarn yoshi amiibo 

Unjustified rage, biggest gear grinders
  • Halo co-op 
  • Loud generators in Fallout 4 
  • Herbalism 
  • esports everything 
  • Weird Japanese game names 
Best Buddy
  • D-dog
  • Dogmeat
  • Warren (Life is Strange) 
  • The Doll (Bloodborne) 
  • The chimney sweep kid in game of thrones 
Best Waifu/Husbandu material
  • Gerralt 
  • Venom "Punished" Snake 
  • SquidKid (I think you mean Callie & Marie) 
  • Eve (Her Story) 
  • Asher Forrestor 
  • The doll 
"Gamey-est" game
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom PainMGS V 
  • Fallout 4/Fallout Shelter 
  • Mario Maker 
  • Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture 
  • Prison Architect

- The Game Awards Winners
- Runtime: 41 mins 18 secs
- Music by Brad Sucks

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Downwell: The Avatar Edition

We're still spiraling down into the depths, but we have plenty of topics to keep us amused.  For example, which is a more culturally significant movie: Avatar or Independence Day?


Thursday, December 10, 2015

Bad Will Towards Men

The children rued the day Frosty returned.
This week on PopMatters I get all Grinch-ey.  Not towards Christmas, but against my fellow players.

I'll admit it: I've been playing lots of Heroes of the Storm lately.  I think it's a good game, but it's reminded me of why many games, especially MOBAs have such toxic communities.  Those games are systemically predisposed to make strangers hate each other.

They're difficult games from a mechanical perspective (memorizing the right combos, mouse movements, build orders, etc.) and new people can accidentally bring their whole team down.  But it's the larger strategic layer that really fuels resentment.  It's one thing to lose in a fighting game or a shooter: you fail to execute on hitting your opponent and not getting hit and you lose.  In objective based games, it often doesn't matter if you're a worse technician than you're opponent as long as you're a better tactician.

So when I see someone who walks right by the map objective in HotS in favor of an ill fated push into enemy territory, it's easy to get frustrated.  Especially when this player inevitably starts giving people a hard time about their KDR.  I've been sentenced to a long, losing campaign not because of some deficiency of my basic skills but because hardheaded fools aren't observant enough to see the bigger picture.

It's a feeling I never really feel when playing a single-player game, no matter how brutal they are.  I'm entering into a system that I don't control, but at least my fate is in my own hands.  The mistakes are mine, as is the decision to engage with the system.  In Downwell or Spelunky, there's no one to be mad at besides the uncaring algorithm.

It's why I'll always find The Binding of Isaac to be a relaxing, almost meditative experience.  Even though there's a lot of losing, I'm in control of it.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

EXP Podcast #359: Game of Thrones Episode 6 Debrief

"Well shit. Now what?"
Winter has come at long last! This week on the EXP Podcast, Scott and I revisit the cold north of Telltale's Game of Thrones. This marks the end of Season 1. Did it achieve the great heights we've come to expect from Telltale? Does Mira get ahead of the drama at King's landing? Is there an actual Ice Dragon? All this and more!

Quick technical note, due to some unfortunate audacity issues there are a few pieces of audio missing from this week's episode. Let's call it another Westeros mystery and move on as best we can.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

- Runtime: 43 mins 42 secs
- Music by Brad Sucks

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Downwell: Persona, Punchers, and Pastel Palettes

What's that Lassie? Jorge and Scott fell down a well? What's that? They're talking about Persona 4? Let's just leave them there in that case.

 

Thursday, December 3, 2015

The Games I Fear to Play

My latest PopMatters piece is up, and it's a personal one of sorts.

I've thought about writing this article since we lost my brother-in-law. I've had words and sentences and stories running through my head, but even now it doesn't feel like it came out right. I hope there's some value in it yet.

I've lost a lot of family members over the years, but never someone so close or so young. So fresh from that wound, I felt a frantic desperation to put my thoughts down in writing. It's like a frenzied need to sketch out Paul and what he means to me, to get something down on paper before I forget, to capture his form in some way like he hasn't left. It's a terrifying endeavor because you know you'll never do it justice.

I don't think I realized how hard it is to articulate grief. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to work on a game like That Dragon, Cancer, or any game for that matter that lays bear personal emotions.

To all the game developers out there who venture into the lands of personal grief, regret, and more: Thank you. You inspire me.


Wednesday, December 2, 2015

EXP Podcast #357: Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Debrief

Don't even think of parallel parking that thing.
It just wouldn't be the holiday season without a little Call of Duty, now would it? Black Ops 3 is coming at you like swarm of angry bees. Don't worry though: we're here to guide you through this near-future dystopia. Rule number one: don't ever trust robots.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

- Runtime: 37 mins 27 secs
- Music by Brad Sucks

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Spelunky: Keeping up with the Jessica Joneses

Jorge and I work off some of the Thanksgiving calories with one of our favorite pastimes: Spelunking. Then again, we may just be under the influence of the Purple Man.

 

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thanksgiving Shopping Soundtrack

Hi everyone!  It's Thanksgiving here in the US which generally family, food, and shopping.  I can't help you with the first two things, but in case you need a soundtrack for the third thing, here you go:



This has been stuck in my head for weeks now, so I'm spreading the wealth.  Sorry, I guess.

I've actually been thinking about writing a longer post about menu music in general.  Something about the combination of elevator music and weird alternate-future cyber shopping is fascinating to me.  I wonder if Drake would share his friend code with me?

Jorge and I will be back next week.  We're barreling towards game of the year time, so look for that coming soon!

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

EXP Podcast #356: The Fallout 4 Bug Bite

It's nearly Thanksgiving here in America. Today, Scott and I are both thankful we are not the last survivors of humanity wandering an irradiated wasteland. It's the small things, y'know? Let's celebrate by discussing the game everyone's been playing: Fallout 4. And what would Fallout 4 be without bugs? They define Bethesda games! But do they break them? All this and more in this week's EXP Podcast!

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

- Runtime: 33 mins 59 secs
- "Fallout 4 Is Full of Bugs, But Fixing Them Could Ruin It," by Zak McClendon via Wired
- Music by Brad Sucks

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Black Ops 3: Chappie's Revenge

We have a DUTY to our viewers get slaughtered in Black Ops 3. As possibly the "gamiest" entry in the franchise, seemingly chock full of robots, this one is a treat.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

The Borderlands of Cibele

My latest PopMatters article went up earlier this week, in which I explore the borderlands of youth in Cibele.

This follow-up piece should have gone up earlier, so forgive me of that mishap. I was hoping to get this out closer to Cibele's release. I really do think it's a game everyone should check out. It can cross that border of the uncomfortable for a lot of people, and for that it's worth our attention alone. The game is daring in its honesty, and while I spend more of my time in this article talking about its aesthetic design, Nina Freeman's presence in the games deserves all the attention it has received.

Coming off playing Life is Strange, you have to appreciate how good of a year it's been for coming-of-age stories. The themes of Cibele echo in Life is Strange as well. Minor spoiler alert for the game, but there is a very important character who tries to capture the moment of transition between adolescence and adulthood, between innocence and sin. They use the photograph as the method for seizing this moment, something Max, the protagonist, also takes seriously.

However, by the end of Life is Strange, it's quite clear the attempt to capture coming of age as a singular moment is impossible. By the time Max confronts the game's villain, she has already made countless decisions that ripple into the future and affect so many lives. Coming of age is a process. We take steps forward and back, we forget lessons we should have learned, and even with the best intentions we hurt those around us. Any attempt to isolate growing up into a moment is, in some ways, an act of violence.

Cibele makes this clear in photos as well, but not in one photo, but their relationships with each other, and how these photos are viewed, shared, and constructed. There a beautiful truth to how both these games explore the borderlands of youth.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

EXP Podcast #355: Blizzard Bulletins and Nintendo News

Not announced: Smash's new turn-based combat.
Two-headed trolls?  JRPG characters from the 90s?  10-second clips that spawn hours of speculation?  It's all pretty standard business for Blizzard and Nintendo.  The two companies recently announced some new and upcoming games (and in one case, a movie), so we're taking the opportunity to weigh in.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

- Runtime: 36 mins 04 secs
- Music by Brad Sucks

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

EXP Podcast #354: An RPG Thing

Everyone loves Teddie!
The state of RPGs, Western and Japanese, ebbs and flows. It might just be the copy of Persona 4 Golden in my Vita, but right now I feel inundated with RPG options. From new spirit-trapping colletion games to the much anticipated Fallout 4, we have plenty of options for games that offer dozens and dozens of hours of gameplay in rich worlds. This week on the EXP Podcast, we discuss some of these RPG options we have out our disposal.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

- Runtime: 35 mins 13 secs
- Music by Brad Sucks

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Video Games in the Era of "Engagement"

The most valuable candy on the face of the planet.
Hey kids, want some candy?  Who am I kidding?  Of course you do and Activision knows it.

This week I do a little armchair analysis of Activision's recent purchase of King, makers of Candy Crush.  I actually don't even explicitly reference the purchase price in the article, but it was $5.9 billion.  More than Disney paid for Star Wars.  More than Facebook paid for Oculus.  It's gotten to the point where the very concept of money is starting to lose all meaning to me.

Even though it's an incredible amount, I think I can follow their logic.  It all goes back to "engagement."  The number of players that King has and the amount of revenue brought in dwarfs even Call of Duty.  More importantly, those players aren't just one and done; they're recurring customers.  Drawn in by an initial free experience, they end up staying and leaving their money and their behavioral data with them.

Enterprise software has shifted towards services rather than discrete packages (just look at Microsoft, Google, and Adobe's freemium/subscription models) and video games are now accelerating in that direction.  The entire MOBA genre is built on the concept of getting people in the door and then keeping them engaged until they either buy something or they reveal what will get others to buy things.  The King acquisition gives Activision a powerful entry point into a world they've slowly been inching towards with WoW and Call of Duty.

We'll see how it all turns out (King's other games haven't experienced the same success as Candy Crush) but it's safe to assume that this trend towards chasing engagement rather than traditional sales as a path to profit is here to stay.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

EXP Podcast #353: Disneyland Debrief

Is a mouse not entitled to the sweat of his brow?
I recently returned from the Magic Kingdom and I bring with me tales of whimsy, churros, and missed opportunities for gamification.  Disneyland is all about fostering the illusion of fantastical, yet grounded environments.  Because of this, I couldn't stop drawing parallels between world building in video games.  So here it is: the definitive Disneyland review.  For your safety, please keep your hands, arms, and legs inside the podcast at all times.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

- Runtime: 49 mins 40 secs
- Music by Brad Sucks

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Yoshi's Woolly World: Big Woolly Style

This week we get crafty with Yoshi. I always imagined Yoshi as more of a pleather aficionado, but here we are surrounded by a bunch of fuzzy eating machines. Watch as our skills quickly unravel.


Thursday, October 29, 2015

Getting Trapped in 'Metal Gear Solid V’s' War Economy

Smooth and bold; just like the military-industrial complex!
This week on PopMatters I get all paranoid about Metal Gear Solid V's sneaky implementation of the war economy.

Here's a free alternate title: the Metal Gear-industrial Complex.  I really think it could catch on.

This isn't a post about Konami's shady dealings around online modes and microtransactions.  I've made my peace with those.  It's about something I find even more unsettling (and cool in the context of MGS V.

By the end, the game makes a strong argument about why militarization tends to spiral out of control.  The game sets you down a path where you continually need to get money to develop weapons that directly add to the need to develop more weapons.  Of course you need money to do this, so you eventually find yourself in a never ending loop of militaristic capitalism.

Of course you could opt out, but you have to be OK with either having a poor loadout or getting ransacked by other players.  A couple months after release and the game has become one huge arms race crossed with a prisoner's dilemma.  With the advent of nukes, meta-game factions have begun to make the cases for and against proliferation.  Sure, perhaps the world would be better off without nuclear weapons, but who wants to go first?  Who wants to bet that a bad actor won't do something reprehensible.

Not I and probably not you either.  So instead we find ourselves in a familiar cycle within one of the most fascinating games of the year.

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

EXP Podcast #352: Split Ends

Look at the divide you've created 343!
Halo 5: Guardians just release, and for the first time since the series began, the latest entry in the franchise does not feature split screen co-op. I only just learned of this travesty moments before recordings, so feast your eyes this week on some shock and anger as it happens. Of course we also discuss ways to bring the benefits of couch co-op to the online space, so maybe there's hope yet!

Probably not...

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

- Runtime: 35 mins 02 secs
- Music by Brad Sucks

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Halloween: Spooky Houses Edition

It's Halloween again! It's time to partake in the holiday tradition of poking around in houses you have no business exploring. Nothing bad can happen, right? RIGHT!?

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Expressing Yourself in Destiny

This week on PopMatters, I describe dancing the Carlton like a weird sort of improv.

I did not touch on the microtransactions aspect of the sweet new emotes in Destiny. For that you can check out yesterday's podcast right here.

For this follow up, I actually want to spotlight the game genre that has move given us the first of dance: the MMO. "Slash dance" became a thing for me in my World of Warcraft days. As my trusty Night Elf Druid, I could /wink, /nod, /sniff, and so on. I had an emote for any occasion. This huge list of emotes grew as the game went on, adding more ways for players to express themselves in all sorts of ways.

Like Destiny's emotes, many of these gestures could target other players. There is a special joy not just in laughing, but laughing at someone else. Building in non-verbal communication goes a long way towards lightening the mood giving players alternative modes of communication besides aggression alone. This is based purely on anecdotal evidence, but I suspect in-game gestures can decrease toxicity in game communities as well. I am far less likely to express aggression if I can /burp, /cackle, or /fart at my opponents and friends.

That deserves an /applause.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

EXP Podcast #351: The Microtransaction Mambo

How could you say "no" to this face?
Hey, I'm not saying that I'd pay for the ability to do the Carlton dance.  What I am saying is that maybe the fact that other people can pay for the ability to do the Carlton dance isn't all bad.  After all, it brings me enjoyment.  There's been lots of talk about microtransactions recently and not all of them have been as seemingly-benign as silly dances.  In fact, by the end of the show, things escalate to the point where Jorge and I start talking about nuclear proliferation.  Will we ever reach micro-transaction disarmament?  Listen in to find out.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

- Runtime: 33 mins 7 secs
- Music by Brad Sucks

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Metal Gear Online: Anti-turret Sneaking

There's nothing more satisfying than creeping up on the competition and then launching them into the air.  Well, maybe mowing them down with a mech comes close.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Insignificance in 'Star Wars Battlefront'

Keep absolutely still. Its vision is based on movement.
That's no moon; it's a column about Star Wars!

Last week I spent some time with the Battlefront beta and got a small taste of what it would be like to live in the Star Wars universe.  However, it wasn't the life of an infamous smuggler, heroic Jedi, or terrifying Sith: I was a grunt.  A fairly expendable feeling one at that.

As is the case in Dice's other large scale combat game, Battlefront gives you control of a fragile, largely-anonymous soldier.  You can try to go all Rambo, but a couple shots will take you down.  You're more likely to succeed if you keep your head down and try to stick close to your squad.  You're only a small part of a bigger team effort.

The size and duration of the battles add to this feeling of being insignificant.  The mechanics reinforce the scale by juxtaposing you against the Vader and Luke hero units who might as well be gods walking amongst mortals.  If you die you can almost instantly respawn, so there's no time to process your mistake or do any real character building; you just throw another pawn into play and try again.

It's a pretty harsh learning curve and the people playing are already ridiculously good, so I'm not sure I'll spend too much more time with Battlefront.  Still, it was fun (and more than a bit humbling) to get a taste of what it must be like to be a normal dude among Jedi.  I've never felt less important.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

EXP Podcast #350: Hardware Habitats

Ahead of its time!
Console exclusive games are increasingly rare in our current console habitat, but this hasn't always been the case. How have our hardware limitations shaped our playing habitats and how we see entire genres? Will the future of VR look like older console generations? Most importantly, what does Mr. Businessman think of the console wars of yore? All this and more on the latest EXP Podcast!

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

- Runtime: 33 mins
- "That Time Final Fantasy Ditched Nintendo for Sony," by Patrick Klepek via Kotaku
- Music by Brad Sucks

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Star Wars Battlefront: Hoth Stuff Coming Through

The Star Wars Battlefront Beta is (was) live, and we got in one some of that Hoth action. Watch Scott and I scream like children and shoot lasers at stuff!

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Stirring Up Esports Drama

GO FNATIC/Origen!
The League of Legends World Championship is underway, and what a series it has been!

So while this week's PopMatters article comes to the defense of the analysts on the desk at Worlds, I do think Riot could improve the viewing experience of the World Championship with two things:

1) More play-by-plays. When I first started getting into Fantasy Football, I found the process of actually watching the games incredibly boring. I was confused by the long breaks and the scramble of men around the line of scrimmage was just a jumbled mess. The only easy thing to understand in football for someone unfamiliar with the sport are long throws for epic touchdowns.

As I started to pay more attention to the individual players on my team, the detailed play-by-plays of specific moments in the game provided so much insight. It sounds silly, but grabbing a pen and drawing on a huge screen is super useful for beginners. It turns what at first looks like a random mess into a discrete moving system of key players in key positions. When the analysts take pen to screen, they generally do a great job analyzing single plays in a match, especially positioning.

2) A beginners stream. The Dota 2 International has been doing this for awhile. A second stream of shoutcasters catering to those unfamiliar with League could walk players through basic character abilities during a match. Most importantly, a beginners stream could bring new viewers clarity into the incredibly important pick-and-ban phase. Unless you are familiar with every character in League of Legends, you will miss out on one of the most crucial elements of a match.

I mean, I'm pro and all, but I would love to be able to watch and talk about the World Championship with others. As long as we keep the drama to a minimum.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

EXP Podcast #349: The News Blues

That poor man; he's been stuck like that for hours.
They say no news is good news and this week we can't really argue with that.  It's been a little rough out there, but we can't use that as an excuse to turn a blind eye.  Instead we wade into the mess and actually manage to find a few glimmers of hope here and there.  In fact, you might say that we are the heroes Tony Hawk, Deus Ex, Batman all deserve.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

- Runtime: 40 mins 59 sec
- "Activision aware of Tony Hawk 5 issues and working with dev to address them," by  Brian Crecente, via Polygon
- "Batman: Arkham Knight PC version circles October for retail return," by Allegra Frank, via Polygon
- "Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ‘Augment Your Pre-Order’ program canceled," by Allegra Frank, via Polygon
- "E-SPORTS TEAM UNION FORMALISES AND REVEALS DEMANDS FOR 2016," by Richard Lewis, via E-Frag
- "Sources: Destiny's DLC Plan Is Changing Big-Time," by Jason Schreier, via Kotaku
- Music by Brad Sucks

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

EXP Podcast #348: Destiny Revisited

If this guy asks you to raid, don't flake on him.
The latest Destiny ads are using Led Zeppelin songs, but based on all the events of Destiny's first year, I think Katy Perry might fit better.  The Taken King is out and with it come a slew of big changes.  This week, we talk about what's new.  Sick helmets, strange coins, and social faux pas: you can find it all in this big ol' universe.

- Here's the show's stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format, or click play below.




Show Notes:

- Runtime: 37 mins 54 sec
- "I never expected Destiny to make me feel so very, very alone," by Chris Plante, via The Verge
- Music by Brad Sucks