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Month: April 2012

VGH #51: You’re Really Just Playing Pong

We can’t believe that we’ve made 51 episodes already!

On this week’s show, we discuss a whole slew of other gaming-related things that we simply can’t believe: Call of Duty‘s success, the Wii’s dominance, Mass Effect‘s overlooked accomplishment and the possibility of a single-console gaming future.

In the Hangover segment, we explore our love/hate relationships with Disgaea, Radiant Historia, Kinect, Witcher, and Bit.Trip Saga.

Finally, we wrap up with a Last Call that somehow references Kid Icarus, Megan Fox, and collectable fine art pieces.

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Weekend Hangover: ‘green herb’ edition

I couldn’t think of anything particularly relevant to discuss in today’s Weekend Hangover post, so I just randomly decided to honor Resident Evil’s infamous green herb and its mysterious healing properties. The kind botanical friend first appeared in the original Resident Evil and the series has never managed to shake it since. It’s made a token appearance in every creeper-filled Capcom joint ever since. Any dope will know that you’re bound to take some hits, so it’s critical to take breaks between shot-gunning sessions and apply the herb as needed. If you don’t keep an eye on your health, you could very easily end up cashed. Anyway, don’t forget to share VGH with your buds!

But enough about green herbs. What games are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’ll be zoning out to:

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Four games under 20 dollars

Today is 4/20, so I thought it would be fitting to present you with a list of 4 games that can be had for under $20. This idea came to me naturually and I totally didn’t borrow it from anywhere else. I’ve intentionally stuck to disc-based console games that have dropped in price over time, as downloadable titles are typically less than $20 in the first place. All four of these are excellent games that I had a wonderful time with, each for different reasons, and they all offer a pretty decent chunk of content at a low price.

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Contest: Win Fez!

We here at VGH aren’t exactly known for our patience. The people behind indie darling Fez were kind enough to send over a code for the game, but Randy and I both had ants in our pants and had already gone ahead and bought the game. Our impatience is your gain! We’re giving away our copy of Fez to one of you lucky folks. Head to the giveaway widget below and get yourself entered to win! We’ll be announcing a winner Tuesday morning, so get to it!

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VGH #50: The Enhanced Edition

VGH #50: The Enhanced Edition

 

Our 50th episode! How freakin’ crazy is that?

Can a game be good without a strong narrative? Inspired by the effusive reviews that The Witcher 2 has been receiving, we’re dedicating this week’s discussion to the importance of story in video games.

In the Hangover, we’ve been playing Fez, Bit.Trip Saga, Driver: San Francisco, and more.

We wrap up the show with Last Call and talk of Record Store Day, the day before Record Store Day, and advice for indie game developers on how to graciously accept praise for their creations.

Be sure to get your voice heard on our monumental 51st episode! Leave us a message at http://audioboo.fm/vghangover or just call us at 682-999-VGH1. What’s your most memorable video game hangover? What should we talk about on the show? Give us a call and chime in.

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Weekend Hangover: ‘Fez is out!’ edition

Fez is finally out! For a game that’s been in development for around five years and has won a number of awards, it’s kind of a big deal that you can actually download it and play it today. It certainly doesn’t hurt that it appears to be getting really good reviews.

So what are you playing this weekend? Have you picked up Fez? Planning to play something else? Tell us!

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VGH #49: Slinging the Purple Fire

VGH #49: Slinging the Purple Fire

Grappling hooks for everyone! On this week’s show, we’re talking about our favorite (and regrettably underutilized) gameplay mechanics. Red Faction, Crackdown, Super Mario Galaxy, Just Cause, Mother 3, and more are mentioned during our conversation.

In the Hangover this week, we’re revisiting Bioshock, playing with our balls in Hustle Kings, and trying to learn all of the moves in Skullgirls.

We’ve also got talk of poop, divorce, bad-assery, QTE’s and fighting games. You’ve been warned.

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Play More Games: Cartoon Girls and Funny Hats

Fez

Fez is out this week! For reals! First announced all the way back in July of 2007 (the PS3 and Wii weren’t even a year old), you’ve probably heard of it since then if you follow the indie scene, or at least seen screenshots of its distinctive pixel graphics. I got to play it for a while at PAX last August, and it felt like a solid platformer. The Escher-like core mechanic—rotating the 2D world 90 degrees at a time to reveal new paths—took some time to get used to, but it was a nice twist (excuse me) on the genre.

What stuck out the most in my mind, though, is how one of the PAX presenters mentioned that part of the game’s ambition is to be something you can sit back and take your time with, which the player character’s leisurely movement encourages‐he’s definitely no Mario. That’s really cool, I thought, instantly imagining myself lazily rotating Fez‘s world around as I searched for the key to the next area. Will that fly with gamers accustomed to slurping up the newest releases and plowing through them so they can trade them in towards whatever’s out the next week? I’m a little skeptical, but considering how long the game has been in development, hopefully people can come to terms. I’d hate for everyone to rush through it too quickly.

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Weekend Hangover: ‘Not at PAX East’ edition

Borderlands 2 at Pax East 2012

PAX East kicks off today!!! …and we’re not there. It’s pretty darn exciting anyway though. Are you at PAX? What are you looking forward to seeing there? If not, what are you looking forward to reading/hearing about from the show? Borderlands 2 is sounding pretty fantastic to me so far (bonus points for the fact that Gearbox is located a mere hour from my house).

Drop us a comment and let us know what you’re looking forward to from PAX, what your game-playing plans for the weekend are, or just tell us anything else that’s on your mind!

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Wheels of Destruction review: Burnt rubber

Have you ever found yourself playing Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars and thinking, “this is fun, but what would really be great is if you took out all this soccer stuff and replaced it with guns and rockets”? No? Yeah, neither have I, but at first blush, that was the vibe I was getting from Wheels of Destruction: World Tour before actually getting my hands on it. Upon playing it, I found Wheels of Destruction felt a bit more like a vehicular game of Unreal Tournament accompanied by a control scheme I’d summarily label as “wonky”.

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