GMD Ep36: Like An Anime Fan On Prom Night

GMD Ep36Jared and Alex were confronted by a wall of naked people on their way in to record this week’s podcast, but the show must go on.

Coverage of gaming news includes the success of Fallout 4 mods on Xbox One, operating on Donald Trump in Surgeon Simulator, and a seven year-old boy caught up in a Gamestop robbery. Also, a recent trailer for the upcoming Mega Man spiritual successor Mighty No. 9 has some gamers crying like anime fans on prom night.

Inspired by a recent piece on GamingBolt.com, the topic of discussion for The Top Three List of the Week is the “top three most tedious things you’ve done in videogames (that were actually tedious).” Later in The Worst Thing That Happened To Us This Week Ben discusses his concern for the future of creative freedom in game design in our increasingly “politically correct” culture.

Episode 36: Like An Anime Fan On Prom Night

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GMD Ep35: This Might Hurt Your Feelings

GMD Ep35The recent release of Blizzard’s new hero shooter Overwatch is the subject of discussion at the top of the show, as Alex relates the experience that her “internet friends” have had with the game thus far.

Following in the footsteps of the Sony Playstation Neo rumors discussed last week, this week’s news includes rumors of a similar upgrade in the pipeline for the Xbox One. This upcoming attempt by the major players to push console upgrades and add-ons spurs Ben to deliver a profanity-laced rant about how consoles add-ons almost always flop. Other news includes lukewarm early reviews for the upcoming Warcraft movie, a big delay for No Man’s Sky, and the newly released PC JRPG Setsuna.

This episode’s Top Three List of the Week has the team selecting the “top three ‘must play’ games that you’ve never played”. The show the winds down with another edition of What You Been Playin’ Bro? because Ben and Jared finally tried out the new Star Wars: Battlefront game together, and Alex randomly started playing 2014’s Tell Tale’s Game of Thrones.

 

Episode 35: This Might Hurt Your Feelings

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GMD Ep34: Why Do You Care?

GMD Ep34At the top of today’s show Alex talks about her recent participation in a marathon 2-day indie game creation competition, and Ben provides some PROTIPS to budding indie developers based upon his own development experiences.

In gaming news the reveal trailers for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Battlefield 1 made waves this past week,  but Ben is most excited about the announcement of a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare remake. The team also discusses some news tidbits and rumors about what to expect from E3 next month.

Speaking of E3, Alex, Ben and Jared talk about “the top three games/potential releases that you’re most excited about for E3 and the rest of 2016” in The Top Three List of the Week. The last segment of the episode is The Worst Thing That Happened To Us This Week which focuses on the growing trend of fanboys who harass any gaming critic who has the audacity to write a negative review for an otherwise well-received game.

Episode 34: Why Do You Care?

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GMD Ep33: #NotAllBrazillians

GMD Ep33Rumors of an upcoming PS4 “4.5” expansion lead today’s headlines, which also include a 5000 page petition advocating for a Vanilla WoW server being passed onto Blizzard’s president, and a Gears of War dev bemoaning the fact that players don’t understand the meaning of the word “beta”. Somewhere in there Ben also accuses Alex of being an Amazon Prime Hater, though she insists that he’s simply a Prime Fanboy.

The rest of this week’s episode is centered on the topic of game piracy, particularly as it relates to popular independent games. In The Top Three List of the Week each host relates their “top three experiences with pirated games or software”. Next up during The Worst Thing That Happened To Us This Week Ben tries to cut through the excuses and figure out what users’ actual reasons are for pirating games. Also, why have certain indie devs actually started embracing the culture of piracy in the gaming world?

Episode 33: #NotAllBrazillians

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GMD Ep32: A One Or A Ten

GMD Ep32Quantum Break for Xbox One has been well received, but Ben’s excitement over the that game is quickly overshadowed by his hatred of April Fool’s day (which took place in between recording sessions for last week’s episode and now). However, even Ben’s disdain for April Fool’s day is nothing compared to his complete and total contempt for diehard comic book fans, which is revealed as Alex, Jared and he discuss fans’ reactions to the recent “Batman v Superman” film during The Worst Thing That Happened To Us This Week.

This episode’s Top Three List of the Week is about the team’s “top three hardest games that you’ve ever played (but also enjoyed)”. As Ben and Jared reminisce about the glory days of tough RTS games, Alex recalls building plutonic friend blanket forts when playing through Viewtiful Joe in high school.

Episode 32: A One Or A Ten

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GMD Ep31: Jaredvanni

GMD Ep31At the top of today’s episode Alex and Ben discuss their newfound obsession with mechanical keyboards, and Ben insists that Jared will soon join their ranks. Later when discussing recent gaming news the team decides that Pokemon Go is already looking like a shitty cash grab, but is still holding out hope that No Man’s Sky won’t follow in Spore’s shallow footsteps.

In and amongst discussion of more news including digital game trade-ins, Final Fantasy XV and Stardew Valley, Ben declares that there is no excuse for individuals to use Twitter and Jared refuses to “lower himself” to play JRPGs on handheld systems.

In What You Been Playin’ Bro? Alex talks about Don’t Starve Together and delivers her final thoughts on Fallout 4. The show wraps up with The Top Three List of the Week in which the team discusses their “top three games that you enjoyed but lost interest in and abandoned before finishing”.

Episode 31: Jaredvanni

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GMD Ep30: Weirdly Paradoxical

GMD Ep30On this week’s podcast Alex, Ben and Jared discuss the 2016 DICE Awards and why ultimately no one should really care too much about awards and awards shows in general. Also, gamers have found a way to complain about getting a free Windows copy of Quantum Break bundled with the Xbox One version, and Alex is super bummed that the upcoming indie game Moon Hunters is getting delayed for a month.

During The Top Three List of the Week a chat about each host’s “top three favorite games that actually lived up to the pre-release hype” inexplicably leads in to a long philosophical discussion and debate about social development and ethics in online gaming interactions.

Episode 30: Weirdly Paradoxical

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GMD Ep29: Made Out Of Pure Recessive Genes

GMD Episode 29It’s the first episode of 2016, but before moving forward Ben insists on making Alex explain why she shed tears of joy after receiving a fanny pack full of Transformers for Christmas…

The new year has brought with it some actual gaming news, including a new approach to mod distribution for Fallout 4, the announcement of a new “Coleco” cartridge-based console, and a bunch of Oculus Rift and other virtual reality reveals. The team also discusses several of the exciting new 3DS games scheduled to be released in the first couple months of 2016.

Following the news is another edition of What You Been Playin’ Bro, in which Jared’s purchase of Pillars of Eternity leads to Ben pointing out that Jared is “such a glory days-er about everything”. Finally having found the time to play Fallout 4 over the holidays, Alex provides a spoiler-free rundown of her experience.

The final segment starts at the 47 minute mark as  Alex, Ben and Jared launch into a spoiler-filled discussion of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It’s a conversation that is equal parts review, analysis, and debate as each host talks about what did and didn’t work for them. No fanboy crap here (apart from Ben’s love of Adam Driver) – just a thorough discussion of characters, plot, and how well everything came together.

Episode 29: Made Out Of Pure Recessive Genes

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GMD Ep28: The Handicap Seats

GMD Ep28Ben and Jared open the show by describing their less than stellar theater experience during the opening day of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Alex hasn’t seen the movie yet (she refused an invitation to see the movie with them), so for her sake they keep things spoiler-free as they give their brief thoughts on the film itself.

It’s the end of 2015 so their isn’t much news this week, but the recent announcement of Ni No Kuni II is a welcome surprise for Ben and Alex. Later on the crew discusses their personal favorite games of 2015 in The Top Three List of the Week, followed by another edition of The Worst Thing That Happened To Us This Week and the wrap up of Alex’s Pokemon Nuzlocke Challenge in What You Been Playing Bro?.

Episode 28: The Handicap Seats

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GMD Ep27: The Better PR Team

GMD Ep27Why wasn’t Hideo Kojima at the VGAs? Does Nintendo really expect the NX to sell 20 million units in the first year? What’s the deal on backwards compatibility and the PS4? Find out the answers to these questions and more at the top of the show in today’s news segment!

After news it’s on to the Top Three List of the Week, where Alex once again confuses the whole process with an ambiguous and evolving  list topic. Later in the The Worst Thing That Happened To Us This Week Ben lays out why gamers should stop complaining about developers having “bad PR” moments.

Episode 27: The Better PR Team

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