Author: Scott

We’re keeping things still in the box at the following link.

I’m a sucker for a lot of things. Gaming trinkets are one of those things. Well, some people consider them trinkets, they’re collectibles to me. You give me a nice statue or some physical object of the like and I’m in. Steel books will also work in that regard as well. Then there’s the autographed stuff and while eBay may give me an idea of a price, these are things I have no intention of selling. A few of them I brought in with me on this episode. RJ also brought in a few of his collectibles and we’re joined in the second hour with listener Chris who brought by a small sample of his EXTENSIVE collection of consoles and games. As much as I love the trinkets, Chris’ collection actually contains games. Just…the games themselves were a sight to see and collectibles in and of themselves.

There’s a line in Fight Club about the things you own ending up owning you. And I only really think that’s true if you allow those things to own you. Talking with Chris and RJ this weekend only showed me that these things we own are the things we love and represent what we love doing. It isn’t ownership so much as it’s pride for what we have and the love of what we do that those things represent.

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We’re complaining about awards at the following link.

“Often in video games we get to choose how we’re seen. Our avatars and our tweets and the work that we do are all meant to portray the story that we want to tell the world about why our lives matter. But sometimes the story is written on to us. Where it’s told because of us or in spite of us. And it reveals our weaknesses, our failures, our hopes, and our fears. You let us tell the story of my son, Joel. And, in the end, it was not the story that we wanted to tell. But you chose to love us through our grief by being willing to stop and to listen and to not turn away. To let my son..Joel’s life change you because you chose to see him and to experience how we loved him.

And I have hope that when we are all willing to see each other, not for just who we want to be but who we are and who we’re meant to be. This act of love and this act of grace can change the world.”

-Ryan Green, Creator, “That Dragon, Cancer”

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We’re rolling in games at the following link.

Food is finished. The black and cyber days are done. Now it’s time to show off the haul. I can’t really tell you in what order I got all of these titles, but I was able to get Titanfall 2, CoD: Infinite Warfare Legacy Edition, Dark Souls 3, Mafia 3, Battlefield 1, Battlefront Ulitmate Edition, Hitman Full Season, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Ratchet & Clank, Carnival Games VR, The Division, & Rainbow Six Siege.

Out of all of those games, not a one did I pay full price. Most of them weren’t more than thirty dollars. This year more than any other I was really surprised with not only how low games were going for, but how low recently released games were going for. I’m also surprised these were mainly had from brick & mortar stores or their online sites and not one of the major online retailers. So, what did you bring home from the big sales? Let us know in the comments!

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We’re standing in line at the following link.

I love Black Friday. I loved it back when it was actually on a Friday, but now that it’s moved into Thursday – I still love it. It’s usually when I stock up on Blu-Rays but games have easily fallen into the grab-it-and-go price range where I’ve been on the lookout for those as well. So much so, in fact, that as a pro-tip you may already be aware of – it’s best not to buy any new games around October through Black Friday. We’re seeing $20 discounts and higher on some recently released games. We used a spreadsheet on this episode of going down all the deals but we’ve also posted it on our Facebook page. If you’re looking for a deal on a console, controllers, games, and even movies, that will be more than helpful for you to plan out how your Thursday or Friday will go. Also of note is that Amazon usually has all these deals price matched, but you’ll need to be quick with the clicks to get them so be aware. Happy shopping! And for our listeners here in the states – Happy Thanksgiving!

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We’re wondering what year it is at the following link.

This might sound like a repeat of last week’s show post, but where last week was speculation, this week is proof.

People LOVE their nostalgia (member berries if you’ve been watching South Park this season).

The NES Classic (the tiny one with 30 games) sold out fast. This isn’t uncommon with Nintendo products, but something like this just feels strange to say in the year 2016. How? Why? Seriously, anyone who wants one of these things and has a reason as to why please call our show or email us. I’m exceptionally curious. I mean, I even want one, but I really can’t say why. I have no idea. And the want for this thing became even stronger – get this – when I couldn’t find one to buy on release day. There’s a medical term for that, I’m sure.

I have a feeling Nintendo know what they are doing here and I also have a feeling they will cash in on this every year if they can. Either with add-ons to existing products or a SNES Mini and the like. They struck gold again. No sense in leaving the claim untapped.

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What’s old is new again at the following link.

This has been a weird year. Outside of the celebrity deaths that have affected me, personally, more than any year previous, the elections here in the US, and the Cubs winning the world series…not to mention the year isn’t even over yet. And here we are on the brink of Nintendo having another huge must-have console in the holiday season. The NES-Mini releases on Friday. A tiny ass Nintendo Entertainment System with 30 games for 60 bucks. This thing is going to sell out fast and be in huge demand. At least, that’s the feeling I’m getting.

Bicker on the value all you want, but 30 for 60 is going to move product. Nostalgia is going to move product. Hell, even the fact that people won’t be able to find this on shelves is going to move product. I could all be wrong on this, however, and I’m really anxious to see what happens in the weeks ahead.

We’re buying an NES in 2016. What a time to be alive.

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We’re not making stupid switch puns at the following link.

I don’t like the name. I’m actually just now pondering this and I don’t like the name. Adding “Super” to the NES was fine. And adding a 64 at the end of Nintendo also worked. The GameCube even worked and was a fantastic name for what that console was. Then came the Wii and Nintendo hasn’t looked back since on how to name their home consoles. Same applies with the new one. I’m sure the marketing department was ALL over this thing with the way they could promote it. The term “make the switch” will likely be the tagline for the ad campaign. They are going to pun the hell out of this thing.

So, there’s my thoughts on the name, which we oddly didn’t discuss in this episode. We do discuss the Switch, however and give it a full hour to ponder what this thing is and what it might end up being. We’d like your opinion though so leave comments or send us some emails and give us your thoughts. According to Nintendo, the conversation for this thing is over with at the end of the 3 minute video they released, but there’s no way we’re going to let it end there.

That really would be a switch. I swear that’s the first and only time we’ll pun this thing.

I promise.

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We’re gonna miss Nate at the following link.

Nate returned!!! Everybody’s happy!! Except he only returned to tell us he wouldn’t be coming back for a good while. Everybody’s sad. Actually, we’re all really happy for him and the new job he got. This whole thing is just some side fun for us. Jobs, life, everything else comes first before this show so Nate’s new venture, while meaning he won’t be able to make the show for a while, is still a very good thing and one we wish him well with.

Well, it’s out in the wild. PSVR is upon us and I didn’t get near enough time with it I had hoped by the airing of this episode. However, as of this posting I have put in a lot more time with it and next week I’ll have a better talk about what it does right, what it does wrong, and what it doesn’t do at all. As a tease, that Batman VR thing makes me feel justified in the money I spent on it.

But you all know me and Batman, so do with that what you will.

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We know when our mics are hot at the following link.

So look, for the past 3 weeks or more now I’ve been talking about Destiny in these things and I’d really like to stop now. But I can’t. It’s what I played, it’s what Matt played and even RJ is looking to possibly get back into it. Maybe. I mean, he fired it up this weekend, so I dunno. But yeah, Iron Banner was this week and it has changed A LOT in year 3. And for the better. So there. There’s my Destiny talk for the week. Moving on.

I don’t know if it’s just me but the launch of PSVR seems to be moving along quite softly. This is entry level VR about to be unleashed on the masses and one I kind of predicted to be the litmus test for the platform. Whatever it’s doing on the PC side of things is nothing compared to how the public deals with it in the home console side of things. I figured this would be the test. The exposure. The judgement. And as we’re this close to release, there seems to be very little to say or that anyone is saying at all. I imagine this to be a big bet for Sony and the release this week will be something I’ll be closely watching. As well as the weeks ahead and into the holidays. VR has always been, like Sony learned with HDR/4K, a “see it to believe it” medium.

Here’s to the future.

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We’re still not sponsored at the following link.

To start with, we had a lot of people in the chat room wanting to support us with their new Twitch Prime accounts. Man I cannot tell you how much we appreciate that. The bad news, however, is that you can’t subscribe to us like that. Not yet anyway. We’re going to look into this and keep you posted.

Meanwhile, I started the show going over the remainder of the weeks left in this year and pointing out how there is at least ONE THING in each week I want to play. I don’t remember the last time we’ve seen a fall/holiday season like this. There’s normally a game in October (or two) and then maybe a game in November. But nope, not this year. Starting with this past week and on into the first week of December (except Thanksgiving weekend), there’s a new game or item releasing that has caught my attention. From the PSVR to the NES Mini to Forza Horizons 3 last week to The Last Guardian in December.

The slate is full. Now if I could just stop playing Destiny long enough to enjoy the slate.

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We’re surprised we killed two hours at the following link.

It’s mid-September. Must mean we’re going to talk about Destiny. I actually never thought that was going to be a thing but…that’s going to be a thing now. I can’t put it down. Seriously, the day after we did this show I was in front of Destiny for 90% of it. And it didn’t feel grindy. I was doing grindy things to be sure, but they packaged it so well that I was too distracted to notice, or maybe I did and just didn’t care.

The record book is an evil plague upon the player. Constantly teasing you with a new bag of loot and constantly tormenting you with just a few more of doing this or a few more of doing that and you’ll move the ball further down the field. The new public space is familiar but new and the new public arena, when the stars align, is a magical place filled with colorful loot you can’t pick up because you’re already overflowing with it.

The guys at Bungie have gotten it wrong before. They got it wrong out of the gate 2 years ago. They got it wrong with the first two expansions. They’ve gotten it wrong with an update here and an update there. But they got it right with The Taken King and they’ve been getting it right with the major updates since then and now again with Rise Of Iron. And your opinion may differ from mine on the matter, but if they’re getting me to keep coming back again and again to play this game, then they are getting it right for me.

And I still have the new raid to look forward to.

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We’re surprising each other with gifts at the following link.

I don’t know of many people looking to get a PS4 Pro. Of the people I know who got an Xbox One S it was usually due to being their first Xbox One or just getting it for the size or color. All of that is to say that most people don’t have a 4K display yet to enjoy what these new consoles are providing. But I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I wasn’t someone back in the SDTV days who said it’ll never go all digital or complained about the push for HD stuff. I was all for it. And I’m all for 4K as well. It just hasn’t made the crossover yet, but it will and probably very soon. That “crossover” being when you can walk into a store and 4K sets will be the only choice you have on the resolution side.

By the way, if you ever wondered just how much of a DuckTales fan I was or how excited Sara gets over The Banner Saga – this is your episode!

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We’re having technical difficulties at the following link.

I’ll start by telling you the show is a bit short. At least what you’re hearing (or watching) is a bit short. There was an issue with Twitch and we lost a few minutes there. Sorry about that.

I’m back from PAX West/Prime and while it shouldn’t have taken us as long as it did to talk about that, we sort of spent a long time talking about that. So long, in fact, that we didn’t get to the whole PS4 Pro situation. We touch on it just a little bit before the end of the show, but I’ve saved all our notes and moved them over to this weekend’s episode so we’ll be sure to spend a good chunk of time talking about this new console that sort of, kind of, really isn’t new.

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We’re pulling levers and pressing buttons at the following link.

First of all, there’s no show next week. Just want everyone to know that next week we won’t do a show, so no Tuesday update. I’ll be in Seattle for PAX where I’ll get to play Obduction in VR.

Speaking of Obduction…

You kinda have to know me to understand where I’m coming from when I talk about Obduction. Hopefully, over the 10 years we’ve been doing this show you might have some idea already. Cyan, who made Obduction, shaped me as a gamer. Their Myst series is where I fell in love with gaming for the first time. It opened my eyes to puzzle gaming, great storytelling, and beautiful imagery. So here we are with Obduction and I am through the roof with this thing. It’s hard to express how I feel when playing this game. There’s frustration, sure, because some of these puzzles are difficult. But there is also a sense of wonder and surprise and, well, every feeling I ever had when playing a Myst game is right back here with me during Obduction. I could use the cliches of feeling like a kid again or something to that effect and I wouldn’t be wrong, but it feels like so much more than that. It’s a reunion. A return.

They say you can never go home again. But in a game, you can do exactly that. You can return to where it all began. In Obduction, I’m home…again.

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