Archive for the ‘Gaming History 101’ Category
Podcast: The Legend of Fred the Frog (Blaster Master)
Fred files solo to discuss the Blaster Master franchise. In a drastically different tale depending on whether you play in the East or the West, Sunsoft’s genre-blending series that constantly tries to capture the magic of the original offers more than you may expect.
Podcast: The Shepard Legacy (Mass Effect Trilogy)
This week Fred and guest Matt Bradford re-visit the Mass Effect trilogy. Although GH101 tackled this with a previous episode, it was time to go back to the well and delve a bit deeper into the mechanics, evolution, and critical opinions placed upon one of the most significant series of last generation.
The referenced Annotated Symphony of the Night can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFmpodGI3Jk
Podcast: U Didn’t Play Next
The Wii U was Nintendo’s follow-up to the widely successful Wii, but amidst an overall lack of interest to gamers it was met with mostly resistance. The slogan “How U Will Play Next” was far from accurate and thanks to a lack of consumer understading of what the console on top of the scruitiny leveled against the library it was never much of a success. Still, Fred has fond memories and he takes you through the journey of the Wii U from announcement to today.
Podcast: Twin Renegades (Double Dragon Franchise)
This week Fred is joined by guest Travis (@TheHibkiTMD) to discuss the Double Dragon franchise. An interesting series spawned from the arcade as a spin-off franchise of the Kunio-Kun series, followed by a slew of ports, and an alternative style and series on the NES.
Podcast: The History of CD-ROM Consoles (Part 1)
This week Fred is flying solo as he discusses the origins of optical-based video games, the CD and Laserdisc format, and the consoles that shaped the early CD-ROM generation. In part 1 the focus is Turbografx-CD, Philips CD-i, Sega CD, the LaserActive, and a brief discussion on the 3DO.
Podcast: Tis the Season
For our holiday show, Fred is joined by Shawn Freeman of Knuckleballer Radio and Rob “Trees” O’Connor from EZ Mode Unlocked to discuss the holiday releases of days passed. With a plan to cover 20 years of releases we only get through five (1985-1989), but plenty of fond memories are shared.
Podcast: 4 White Buttons and 2 Joysticks
This week we celebrate the release of the Neo Geo X Gold by celebrating the original Neo Geo hybrid console/arcade. We discuss the launch, initial pricing, history and iterations of the console, and eventually get to the many games you can enjoy. As the holy grail of my 16-bit gaming as a child, I always dreamed of (and now currently cherish) my Neo Geo.
Song in the opening and closing is Keith Apicary’s Neo Geo Song (Music by FantomenK) and song info, album info, and music video can be found here.
Podcast: It’s All About Making That GTA
In honor of the release of several iterations of the Grand Theft Auto series releasing on various digital platforms and GTA V information slowly leaking out, I figured it would be a good time to dig into the vaults and re-release an old retro podcast I did with former Vault Reviews co-host Jamie (now known better as Ellie Clark). We highly compressed the audio as a master track, so I apologize for the low bitrate, but that doesn’t stop this great overview of the entire GTA series from being entertaining nonetheless.
Podcast: Call of Duty: Combat Evolved
Halo and Call of Duty, the two powerhouse FPS titles of this holiday season duking it out at full price amidst a sea of discounted games on Black Friday (and surpassing the sales of many of them). It wasn’t always a guaranteed hit, though, and this week we discuss the birth of both franchises including the genesis of the studios that created them.
Podcast: Game Club – Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
This week Fred and guest Rob “Trees” from EZ Mode Unlocked tackle November’s game club title Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse for the Sega Genesis. They get into discussions about the context of the game to the content, time period of release, individual levels, and even chime in on the soundtrack.
Download this episode (right click and save)
As an added bonus, Fred completed the campaign in its entirety on video (below):
Gaming History 101 