80-Bit Podsmash

Penguin & Termite get serious about the dark side of gaming. We discuss some of the negative affects of gaming in our culture, addiction, toxic behavior, and a false sense of accomplish. Does gaming affect you this way? Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/blog/how-violent-video-games-might-be-screwing-with-your-brain/ https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/opinion/video-games-toxic-violence.html   Music...

Termite has collected issues 200 through 300 of Game Informer. That knowledge spans 2009 through today; Nine years of gaming. Penguin & Termite discuss what has changed in that time. We highlight big innovations in the industry as well as talk about our gaming history in that light. Do you think gaming has changed much in the past nine years? Music Ozzed - I Like Jump Rope ozzed.net http://creativ...

Penguin & Termite discuss Fan Theories! We seek to define what they are. We ask why do they matter and explore which ones actually came true. Come bring your own fan theories and explore with us! Footnotes: https://geeks.media/history-of-fan-theories http://www.cracked.com/article_20614_6-insane-video-game-fan-theories-that-make-total-sense.html https://whatwouldbaledo.com/2016/11/21/what-we-talk-...

Penguin & Termite ask why video games are priced the way they are. Is $60 ok as a standard? We discuss why they're priced that way and explore how we got there. We also share our budgeting tips. Footnotes: https://www.polygon.com/2017/8/15/16152194/video-game-pricing   Music: Ozzed - Cooking Together http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite reflect on the current gaming industry trend to bring females front and center in video games. Is Hollywood doing the same thing? We dive into the history of women characters in games and look at how that's evolved over the years. Music: Ozzed - Dragspel i Natten http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/   https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/study-tra...

Penguin & Termite discuss Final Fantasy. How did this Japanese series of RPGs become relevant in the "West"? We rank our favorites and discuss our best memories of how we came to be fans of Final Fantasy. Listen in and tell us about your Final Fantasy experiences. Music: Ozzed - Introjuice http://ozzed.net http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite review the newly released book adaptation film, Ready Player One! What did we like about the movie? Did it line up with the book? What did you think? Join in on the discussion. Music: Daydream Anatomy - Combat http://daydreamanatomy.bandcamp.com http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/  

Penguin & Termite tackle Termite's beloved topic surrounding video games; Trophies and Achievements! We explore their relevance and their impact in today's video games.   Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/pictofacts-746-10-video-game-achievements-you-have-to-be-nuts-to-complete/ http://business.financialpost.com/technology/gaming/barely-a-quarter-of-gamers-complete-their-games-and-other-interestin...

Penguin & Termite welcome back esteemed cos-player and YouTube extraordinaire, "Shut Up Kristen!"s own Kristen Corradeno! We discuss Ready Player One as we anticipate the movie launching on March 29th. We take a deep dive in to the book and all things nerd culture. Shut Up Kristen! https://twitter.com/shutupkristen https://www.patreon.com/shutupkristen https://www.youtube.com/user/kristencakess  ...

Penguin & Termite discuss Character Customization. We dive deep into what it is and why people create the characters avatars that they do. Why do male gamers create female characters? Why do you think so? References: https://kotaku.com/im-a-man-who-plays-as-a-woman-in-games-and-im-definite-1576592743 https://www.quora.com/What-motivates-guys-to-play-female-characters Black Desert Online  https://w...

Penguin & Termite have picked up a ton of mannerisms from various media over the years. How many of them are from video games? How about movies or TV shows? How about you?   Music: Ozzed - Off-Color Outro http://ozzed.net

Penguin & Termite discuss the history and effect frames per second has on our video content. We also dive into its relevance in video games. It all started with The Silent Film Era. Resources: https://www.dualshockers.com/30-fps-vs-60-fps-both-options-are-perfectly-fine-but-its-situational https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/128113-why-movies-are-moving-from-24-to-48-fps https://www.filmindependen...

Penguin & Termite discuss analog games including but not limited to board games, card games, tabletop RPGs, etc. We ask questions about why they're so fun and how they relate to video games. We also talk about our favorite ones. Join in on the fun, and hopefully, you'll be inspired to play with your friends.   Music Halcyonic Falcon X - Those of Us Who Fight http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-...

Penguin & Termite take a deep dive into the world of fighting games. We go over some history, current events, and discuss the innovation that fighting games bring to the video game industry.   https://www.geek.com/games/street-fighter-mortal-kombat-smash-bros-and-beyond-the-ultimate-history-of-fighting-games-1646671/ http://evo.shoryuken.com/ https://kotaku.com/how-to-get-better-at-fighting-games-...

Penguin and Termite asked our wives to join us to discuss, a very Valentine's Day topic, marriage and relationships with gamers! We dive into the minds of our spouses to reveal truths and secrets that we hope you can apply to your relationships. Music: Ozzed.net Ozzed - Sanity Not Included http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite go head to head in the age old debate about which platform is "better" for gaming. Come see which side you fall on and join in on the discussion. Resources: https://www.pcworld.com/article/3118250/software-games/9-reasons-why-pc-gaming-is-a-better-value-than-consoles.html http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/12-reasons-console-gaming-beats-pcs-489212 https://www.statista.com/char...

Penguin & Termite take a deep dive into the concept of spoilers. Are you offended by spoilers? Do you like having movies, books, games etc spoiled for you? Join in on the discussion! Resources: https://kotaku.com/5830092/spoiler-alert-people-like-spoilers http://www.cracked.com/article_20330_5-factors-that-secretly-influence-how-much-you-like-movie.html http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-reasons-spoile...

Penguin & Termite discuss the movie adaptations of video games. Why aren't they good? What would it take? Is it even possible? Join in on the discussion! Resources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_video_games -Comparison to comic book adaptations https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/the-rise-of-superhero-films/ http://blog.moviepass.com/evolution-of-the-comic-book-movie/ htt...

Penguin & Termite take our "gaming goes to grab a beer" to the next level. We pair up craft beer styles with specific video games. We discuss what aspects of the beer brings out aspects of the video games we chose. Music Ozzed - All for me NES A cover of the Irish drinking song "All for me grog". http://ozzed.net/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/   Resources: http://allaboutbeer.com/lea...

Penguin & Termite discuss what canon means for various  mediums and how it applies to video games. Do you take canon seriously? References: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/01/op-ed-disney-takes-a-chainsaw-to-the-star-wars-expanded-universe/ http://www.zeldainformer.com/daily-debate-does-canon-matter/   Music: 8-bit Hell All Hallows Eve - Ghosts of a Fallen Empire https://archive.org/details/A...

Penguin and Termite wish you and yours a very Happy New Year! We discuss highlights from the 2017 year in gaming. Spoiler! It was an amazing year! We discuss our vision and hope for 2018. Music: Ozzed 8-Bit Party http://ozzed.net/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Penguin & Termite wish you all a very Merry Christmas! We discuss our favorite Christmas video games and memories around them, our Christmas wish lists and we want to know what games you guys play for Christmas!   Music Ozzed - JingleNES http://ozzed.net/music/site-releases.shtml http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/  

Penguin & Termite discuss controllers! What makes them good? Which ones are the worst? What are your favorites? Why do they matter? Footnotes: https://thebests.kotaku.com/the-best-video-game-control-pads-1785680071 https://kotaku.com/the-quest-to-make-a-better-video-game-controller-1818823822  - compares controller design to musical instruments https://waitbutwhy.com/2017/04/neuralink.html  -brain...

Penguin & Termite discuss the first person perspective and compare/contrast it to various other ways to portray video games as art Footnotes: http://www.denofgeek.com/us/games/12152/the-superiority-of-third-person-shooters     Music: Ozzed Ferrous Rage http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/    

Penguin & Termite discuss the value of holding onto video games. We also talk about the ethics around buying used games vs pirating software and its affect on the gaming industry. Gamestop PowerPass https://kotaku.com/gamestop-offering-unlimited-6-month-access-to-preowned-1819957746   Music: ozzed - Game at Heart http://ozzed.net/