Player One Podcast

This week we talk Xbox Live. The beginning, the middle, and its glorious refinement into the service we now have on the Xbox 360. From XSN Sports to Xbox Originals, we discuss various points in Live's history and go over our favorite/least-liked Xbox Live Arcade games. Not only that, but we mull over the games we played this week, including Super Mario Galaxy, Call of Duty 4, Blue Dragon, BioShock...

In honor of this week's release of Mario Galaxy, we spend the second segment of this episode talking about Mario games. From Super Mario Bros. on the NES to his latest adventure in space, Mario has been a mainstay in gaming since the '80s--and one of the few video game mascots to star in million-selling games across multiple console generations. But we begin the show as we always do, talking about...

Two segments this week. The first is a rather long (nearly an hour) discussion on the games we played this week. That includes such games as Guitar Hero III, Viva Pinata Party Animals, The Simpsons Game, Ratchet & Clank Future, Portal, Bleach (Wii and DS), Zack & Wiki, Rock Band, Mega Man ZX Advent, Mutant Storm Empire and Namco Museum Remix. We also managed to squeeze in talk about a Kotaku edito...

This week we turn our eyes towards Nintendo's original, black and white (or is that green and...lighter green) Game Boy. The portable that was too large for a pocket may not have had the graphical oomph of its competition, but the Game Boy sure wedged its way into our hearts. And with the rumor last week that Nintendo may soon begin offering downloadable GB games for play on the DS via flash cartr...

It's a special One-Year Anniversary episode of the Player One Podcast this week. We've got all the usual plus an extended chat about Capcom's slate of retro remakes, a rundown of the news that caught our eyes last week, and lots and lot of other stuff. Plus, all the greetings and salutations we could stuff into a single episode. Some of the games we discuss in the What'cha Been Playin' this week--...

There's a fine line between a good game and complete crap. Last week saw the release of Yaris on Xbox Live Arcade. Our stance on it...pretty clear. Game of the YEAR. OK, not really. It's not even terribly effective as an advergame. Take a listen to this episode and you'll hear our opinions of Yaris, The Orange Box, Puzzle Quest, Hot PXL, Rock Band, MLB Power Pros, Ratchet & Clank Future (demo), Wa...

Here it is, our 50th episode. Amazed that we've lasted this long on such a regular basis? So are we. This week we've got a super-sized Game Tape Impressions segment where we talk about such new releases as The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Project Gotham Racing 4, Halo 3 and MLB Power Pros. We also quickly tackle a couple of news headlines (including two rumors tha...

This week is the episode of flubbed/bombed segues, mispronunciations and Game Fuel buildup. Oh, and Halo 3. Yes, we talk about that a little bit too. No story spoilers here, so fear not (we didn't play much single player or co-op this week). And if Halo 3's not your thing, worry not -- we've thrown that segment at the end of the podcast. You're welcome. Thanks for listening! You can leave us a voi...

Don't worry, there are no Halo 3 spoilers in this episode (in case you were wondering). Actually there's barely any Halo talk in this episode at all. In the run-up to Tuesday's mega-launch of the most anticipated game of the year, we spend this episode talking about other, less Master Chief-y games, go over some Tokyo Game Show news, and Dan gives one listener a verbal thrashing...over Halo. BTW,...

This week we welcome ex-Electronic Gaming Monthly editor and Shawnimals creator Shawn Smith to the program for 90 minutes of chatting about games, ye olden days of EGM, and what it's like to leave a video game magazine, start a line of designer plush and then turn that work into a video game—Southpeak Interactive's recently announced Ninjatown for Nintendo DS. Plus we talk about the games we've be...

Admit it. You're biased . You have likes, dislikes, loves, hates, etc. And we jump into that a bit this week as we talk about fanboy logic -- the propensity to defend something you own/like even when that position is indefensible or seemingly illogical. We go through a few of the previous system wars and even fess up to our own personal biases. Maybe you'll be able to do the same after listening....

This week the boys spend the entire podcast talking about all the boffo games they've been playing over the past week. Thrill as they go toe-to-toe on whether Metroid Prime 3 is "the tits" or yet another GameCube game with gimmicky controls. Witness them talk up Blue Dragon like it's not just another average RPG. Groan as Greg calls out Folklore for being a warmed-over turd. Plus! Be sure to take...

This week it's BioShock, BioShock, BioShock...and some Space Giraffe. And some other games. But mostly, BioShock. We suppose we should say before you listen that if you don't want to hear minor BioShock gameplay spoilers, you may want to skip from around the 28-minute mark to around the one-hour-and-20-second area. The spoilers are fairly minor, and if you've played up to Arcadia Hills (think "tre...

Madden last week, BioShock this week. The evidence is all around us -- we've started into the fall gaming season where players will part with exorbitant amounts of cash to play the games they've been waiting all year for. And we're gonna like it, damnit! In this episode, we run down the releases month by month and discuss what we'll buy, what we'll skip, and what we'll wait till it's half-off to p...

Are Public Relations representatives really the secret evil behind all that is wrong with videogame journalism? Or are they just another necessary evil in the giant game of game media? The boys discuss a recent article over at Gamasutra regarding this very subject, as well as wax nostalgic about some of their run-ins with over-zealous PR folks and publishing CEOs. But first they talk about what's...

Twenty years ago, gaming began and ended with the Nintendo Entertainment System. You either owned one or desperately wanted to. It's been nearly 20 years since that time for most of us, and we spend a good portion of this episode telling tales of the NES -- reminiscing about our first experiences with the system, our favorite games, and the highs and lows of relying solely on allowances and birthd...

This week the boys spend a lengthy amount of time talking about what they’ve been playing. Titles like Super Contra, Wing Commander Arena, Alien Syndrome, Overlord, Heavenly Sword, Project Sylpheed and more. And Phil has a total "Shane" moment in the process. Then, thrill to the story of how young Dan Dormer got his first break in the videogame industry, and get a bit of advice on how you, too, co...

We open this episode by talking a little bit about which outlet we thought had the better E3 show coverage (or, rather, whose coverage we looked at most). But E3 is but a distant memory for the remainder. While we chat about what games we've been playing and rap for a little while about the Jeff Bell Internet drama (full story at links in the show notes) and game developer Dave Perry's comment abo...

It's the happiest time of the year for game companies. A time when they take precious manpower from their development cycle and cobble together an E3 demo in the hopes that some unwashed game journalist won't pass judgement on their product based on a five-minute demonstration and a press release. This week four of your favourite unwashed game journalists pick apart the three big press conferences...

We began recording this episode on Sunday with really just one thought in mind--talking about E3. And in the second segment we do that, mostly focusing on E3s passed and how the show changed during the time we (well, minus Dan) were actively involved in gaming magazine publishing. We share a few stories, a few yarns, a few fun anecdotes. The perfect thing in case any of you are heading down to the...

Two members of our cast are total Harry Potter geeks. In fact, the only passion that outstrips their love of the bespectacled wizard has to do with the Transformers. So you can guess what most of this episode is about. Who has the better game -- Harry or Optimus? Along with the two biggies, the boys tackle Carcassonne and Final Fantasy this week. Plus a look at some of the latest headlines in the...

This week: A continuation of last week's discussion about game pricing. This time 'round we tackle the price of portable gaming, downloadable content, Xbox Live Arcade game price drops (or nonexistence of any) and more. Plus, we go over what we've been playing this week and play a couple voicemails. Thanks for listening! You can leave us a voicemail comment by calling 713-893-8069. Or you can e-ma...

Whether it's Microsoft having to publicly justify the $10 price tag of Pac-Man Championship Edition and explain the reason why Shadowrun on 360 is $10 more than it is on PC, or news the Sony is "studying" PS3 price cuts...the price of gaming is a big topic of discussion these days. In the second segment we kick off a conversation about game/console pricing that will continue in next week's cast. H...

To celebrate the release of Tomb Raider Anniversary (or, depending on who you ask, Pac-Man Championship Edition) the boys tackle the topic of retro remakes this week. Do we like �em? Do we hate �em? Should Square Enix just give up on the Final Fantasy remakes already? You�ll have to listen to find out. And after that, we take some listener calls (Dan likes to call them �reader� calls�h...

This is the episode that almost didn't happen. Or, rather, it's the episode that happened three times and we still didn't make it out alive. Either way you look at it, here it is and let's all just be glad it's over. The first two tries at recording this  over the weekend were foiled by CJ's laptop teetering on the brink of obsolescence. The third time was the charm, except that halfway through Da...