80-Bit Podsmash

As Sony reigns as king in the platform competition, are they headed for a fall? Sony has made a lot of not so consumer friendly decisions lately. We lay them all out and discuss a state of the industry and assess what's going on over in the PlayStation camp. https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite are taken over once again by Halloween! We get festive by continuing our Monster Smash series, focusing on monsters in video games. This year, Zombies. Probably the most prolific, overused trope in video games. Why are there so many zombie games? We discuss... Music: Nestrogen - Infernal Misanthropy http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/   Discord: https://discord.g...

We've discussed lots of things regarding Halloween and gaming, but we've never talked about the cultural influence that each have had on the other. We go over how developers celebrate Halloween, and how Halloween has evolved with the influence of gaming in general. https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/...

Penguin & Termite discuss the significance of those old, pre-loaded, Operating System video games that came pre-installed on most computers. What was the impact and influence on gamers at that time? Do we still see them today? https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite kick off a new series of topics going over how video games relate to various emotions. With Halloween approaching, we start with FEAR! Covering how video games utilize fear - such as design and narrative direction. https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite take an introspective dive to investigate cultural appropriation in video games. What is cultural appropriation? What does it have to do with video games? Has the industry gotten better about this? All this and more... https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Is Atari's E.T. the worst game of all time? Were they buried in the desert? There is so much to talk about surrounding the myths and legends of this 1982 flop - that we've decided to dedicate a whole episode around it! Come and learn about what was going on in this piece of gaming history. https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.o...

Penguin & Termite took notice of some video game related terminology definitions being compiled into glossaries and published on the internet. With that, we wanted to weigh in on the importance of such things. https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite reach the finish line of Wikipedia's Best Video Games of All Time list! We walk through the years 2014 through 2018 of this curated list, while offering our perspective of the games themselves and the state of the industry at the time! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_considered_the_best https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and...

Nothing celebrates Labor Day more than a good discussion about cheating! Penguin & Termite have devoted an entire episode to the discussion about Aimbot. What is it? How nefarious is it? What's it's impact in the video game culture/industry today? What are its redeeming qualities? All this and more... https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creat...

Penguin & Termite discuss the ever changing methods of the video game industry's marketing strategies. What is marketing for video games? What's the process and what seems to have the most success? Is there a "sweet spot"? https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite continue our Developer Profile series by covering Volition, otherwise known as Deep Silver Volition! The studio behind the Saints Row and Red Faction franchises. We take a detailed look at the history of the studio, as well as their pedigree, and impact on the industry. https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.org...

Penguin & Termite continue a new series called "Gaming What Ifs." In each episode, we'll ask the question "what if.." something was drastically different, and explore that alternate reality. In this episode, we ask the question, "What if Sega was still included in the 'console wars'?" What would the video game industry look like, what would the landscape be? https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music:...

Penguin & Termite discuss the video game industry effect on the environment - Production, manufacturing, shipping, selling, buying, and playing video games. We discuss roles and responsibilities of publishers, studios, and the consumers such as you and us. https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite celebrate the advent of a new era at Nintendo - the release of the Nintendo DS! Introducing us to revolutionary features which culminate to the modern Nintendo Switch! We discuss the history, impact, and our favorite games/memories. https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Is it just us or is it taking longer and longer for developers to make games? Yeah. We are pretty sure it's not just us. We discuss why over the last few years the time it takes to complete a development cycle has increased and what impact it's having on the industry and the culture. Check out all that and more... https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns...

Penguin & Termite discuss the Streisand Effect. What is it? Where did it come from? Most importantly, how does the video game industry fall into this trap? What are the ramifications of these examples? All this and more... https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Penguin & Termite continue pushing through Wikipedia's Best Video Games of All Time list. We walk through the years 2011 through 2013 of this curated list, while offering our perspective of the games themselves and the state of the industry at the time! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_considered_the_best https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and...

Penguin & Termite acknowledge the 4th of July holiday by discussing all things EXPLOSIONS!! in video games. What do explosions have to do with video games? What are the many forms they take? What are the technical ramifications of each explosion? All this and more...  https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3...

Penguin & Termite discuss the jump from 2D to 3D back in the 90s. Why did some franchises gracefully make the jump while others failed to find a hit? What is the history and what are the many factors which make up 3D and 2D games? https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

Happy Pride Month! To celebrate Pride Month, Penguin & Termite invite a member of the LGBTQ Community, Chris, to discuss being amongst the culture of the gaming industry. We discuss the current state of diversity and inclusion in the gaming culture as well as how the culture is responding and growing towards that end. https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unic...

Penguin & Termite attempt to inspire, educate, and provide insight into the culture of video gaming to those who would describe themselves as "non-gamers" in an epic, three episode series. In this third conversation, we discuss the change that people bring to the culture, both en masse and individually.  https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorns http://cr...

Penguin & Termite attempt to inspire, educate, and provide insight into the culture of video gaming to those who would describe themselves as "non-gamers" in an epic, three episode series. In this second conversation, we discuss the teaching and learning aspect of getting into video games. Different people have different amounts of knowledge to share, and learn differently. Also, Termite ran into...

Penguin & Termite return to twitch to discuss all things Pokemon Legends: Arceus. Both us of us have put about 10+ hours into hte game and we share our thoughts/opinion of the game. Check out the video version on our YouTube channel. To be a part of our monthly, review live streams, subscribe to our twitch channel. https://linktr.ee/80bitpodsmash Music: Halcyonic Falcon X - Of Rainbows and Unicorn...

Penguin & Termite attempt to inspire, educate, and provide insight into the culture of video gaming to those who would describe themselves as "non-gamers" in an epic, three episode series. In this first conversation, we discuss the reasons to be a gamer. We discuss why people get into gaming, what does it look like, what is this culture? Gamers, partake as well, as we are responsible for that cult...