Break out the glasses—VGH’s third annual Hungover Hangover call-in show is coming up! In what’s become a yearly tradition, we’ll be recording our final show of 2013 while enjoying some adult beverages and answering your questions on the air. (We’ve also got some other surprises in store… but more on those later.)
What happens when we stop talking about games and decide to make one? The results surprised even us. (Don’t worry, there’s still some gaming chat, including more Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Super Mario 3D World, and some PS4 catch-up.)
We’re taking your calls for our 2013 finale episode! Leave us a message at audioboo.fm/vghangover or by phone by calling* 1-682-999-VGH1 (1-682-999-8441).
*Long distance charges may apply.
Who needs next-gen consoles when you’ve got Nintendo games to play? This week, we’re unhealthily obsessed with Zelda, Link, Mario, Toad, and… is there a Wii Sports guy? Why are we talking about Wii Sports in 2013 again?
We’re taking your calls for our 2013 finale episode! Leave us a message at audioboo.fm/vghangover or by phone by calling* 1-682-999-VGH1 (1-682-999-8441).
*Long distance charges may apply.
We bought two of Sony’s new PlayStations and boy, are our arms tired! We also played a Nintendo 2DS without buying one, then took a break from playing games to look at some in a museum. Finally, Burial at Sea is the BioShock Infinite DLC of the Year.
Between all the grinding, collecting, and microtransactions, it’s amazing we even had time to record this week’s show about the extremes we go to for some games. We’ve also got talk of Saints Row IV, Tiny Death Star, and (seriously?) more on Pokemon X/Y.
With next-gen consoles right around the corner, we’re laying the PS3 and Xbox 360 to rest this week with all of our favorite stuff from the current gen. Also: Pokemon X and Y (we actually played it!), AiRace Speed, and Nintendo’s Swapnote dong debacle.
We’re having a spooOOoOOOOoOoky time playing Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs and deciding if we like this new direction horror games are headed. Also, we played Splinter Cell Blacklist with the community and lived to tell about it! So we tell you about it.
Writer/director Rob McCallum talks with us about his upcoming indie documentary, The NES Club.
It’s the Pokémon episode you’ve been waiting for, featuring three guys who have never played Pokémon! Also, dungeonmaster Randy rolls an elf in an RPG. D.J. plays a gritty first-person shooter. Matt tries a demo… OR DOES HE? WHAT’S HAPPENING??
What’s better than staring at a GTA Online error screen? How about hanging out with creepy, wooden versions of Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe? We dish on Beyond: Two Souls, are seriously confused about Flashback (More Bros Edition), try the new Phoenix Wright: Dual Destinies demo, and check in with Randy’s JRPG Corner, featuring Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl.
We pay our respects to the late Hiroshi Yamauchi by looking back at the big N’s history and sharing some of our favorite Nintendo memories. In the Hangover: We like GTA5 when it doesn’t make us torture people, and D.J. learns to sew in Final Fantasy XIV.
Brace yourselves. It’s a full hour dedicated to the Grand Theft Auto V of video games: Grand Theft Auto V.
Now that the dust has settled, how did we do in this year’s Backlog Attack?
Randy successfully braved a trio of Metacritic’s most hated games (plus Resident Evil), and even ended up liking a couple! He’s still pretty certain that no one should play The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, though.
I got through a handful of Steam and console classics before running into some mouse trouble playing Metro 2033 and calling it quits on a technicality. Yes, I’m blaming the controller, but I plan to get right back to shooting Russian mutants once my new mouse arrives. (In the meantime, Final Fantasy XIV is perfectly playable with a controller.)
Lastly, Paul played a lot of Animal Crossing and Project X Zone, neither of which were on his list. But, at least he finally played Spec Ops: The Line! Let’s give him partial credit.
For our full Backlog Attack postmortem, check out episode 114.
We stick the fork of mercy into the Summer Backlog Attack, because it’s time for us to stop playing old games and start stealing cars. We also stick multiple forks (with varying degrees of lethality) into Splinter Cell Blacklist, and Paul’s still playing Diablo III? Oh, it’s the new Diablo III for Consoles. Also, we’re super excited for Watch Dogs but maybe it’s just because the Internet is a big place and we get lonely.
In the Hangover, Randy’s playing Killzone: Mercenary, which is a first-person shooter you play on a handheld, D.J. is unusually restrained about Final Fantasy XIV, and Paul is already sick of Grand Theft Auto V.
We’ve got your Spelunky-flavored Viewer Mail, and we announce the grand prize winner of the Backlog Attack contest! Is it you?
Here’s our last backlog update before GTA5 comes out and we post our final results next week! If you listened to this week’s episode, you already know I threw in the towel on Jet Set Radio in the hopes of getting to one last game on the list. I may go back and try to complete it at some point, but at this point I’m more curious about Jet Set Radio Future on the Xbox and seeing if it’s at all improved over the original. (It’s also worth noting that I’ve been listening to the soundtrack non-stop this week, so I at least took that away from it.)
We also wrapped up the Backlog Attack contest! Definitely tune into next week’s episode if you were one of our dedicated backlogonauts. We’ll be announcing the grand prize winner… along with some other things.
Is there any good reason to pick up an Xbox One or a PlayStation 4 on release day? The truth is out there! This week, we’re playing The Fullbright Company’s Gone Home (no spoilers!), Spelunky, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Jet Set Radio, and weighing in on the next-gen console release dates.
The moment you’ve been waiting for is here! It’s been a long month of dusting off old backlog games, and it’s been amazing hearing from all of you about the games you’ve been playing (you’ve definitely put our own progress to shame), but it’s time for us to wrap things up and pick a winner in our backlog contest.
If you haven’t been updating your comment on the original post, make sure you leave a reply here with your final tally of completed games. We’ll be looking at these to determine who’s achieved the greatest feat of backloggery. The winner will be contacted sometime later this week.
To everyone who’s participated: It’s been inspiring to watch you get through so many amazing games, and thanks for continuing to listen to Video Game Hangover!
Just two weeks left in the Backlog Attack! I was busy running around the Seattle convention center, but I still managed to get in a little bit of Jet Set Radio, and back in real life, Randy started co-opping through Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel. Meanwhile… Paul…?!??
We’re really coming down to the wire, which has me looking ahead at the games remaining on my list and wondering how I can possibly fit them all in before Grand Theft Auto V drops in a few short weeks. It’s going to be close!
Remember, if you’re in our Backlog Attack contest, this is your last weekend to finish off your games! On Monday, we’ll have a final contest post and ask you to check in before we pick a winner. Look for more details then!
We’ve got a report on the best new games and biggest announcements from PAX Prime 2013 in Seattle! In the Hangover, we’re still playing Splinter Cell Blacklist, Shin Megami Tensei IV, and the Backlog Attack continues with Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel.
Also, your completed games and gaming rage stories in Viewer Mail!
Three weeks left to go in our backlog challenge! Randy and I have gotten sidetracked a bit with Splinter Cell Blacklist, but we’re making good progress (or at least Randy is), so we’re giving ourselves a week off. Smart move??