Player One Podcast

It's Memorial Day weekend in the USA, generally thought of as the "official" start of the summer movie season (though more and more films are opening well beforehand every year). This weekend it's Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End. But 30 years ago it was Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. To commemorate the occasion, we spend the second half of this episode talking about Star Wars as the...

Last week the rumor hit the Internet that Nintendo was planning to shutter their Nintendo Power magazine. Sad news for those of us in the "Nintendo generation" that grew up reading it religiously. So we invited Kevin Gifford of magweasel.com and GameSetWatch's weekly Game Mag Weaseling column to talk about it. We not only discuss the rumored shutdown of Nintendo Power but also about the current st...

This week we take a minute (OK, more like 30) to talk about the ill-fated 32-bit Sega Saturn system. But we're not just doing it because we like to shoot the bull about classic game hardware--May 11 marked 12 years since the system launched in North America, the first (and last) time a game console has been stealth-surprise launched. Maybe our discussion of the system and its games will spark a fe...

The title of this episode is a choice piece of advice on how to get into the industry from this week's special guest, 1UP.com's Patrick Klepek. If you've always wondered how to get your foot in the door, you'll want to stick around for the last part of this episode where Patrick and co-host Greg Sewart share their stories of how they got started. (We'll get to the rest of the crew and other guests...

Ken Kutaragi. He wasn't just the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, he was also the father of the PlayStation. Without him, Sony never would've gotten into the gaming business to begin with. So it seems a bit odd that on the eve of what should be their triumph, he's retiring. While it's debatable as to whether he should've ascended to the heights he did within Sony (and his rambling, eccentric sp...

To mark the glorious occasion of the release of a brand-new Pokemon game, we take a look back on the series as a whole -- the ups, the downs, the seizure-inducing TV show, all of it. Is it wrong that grown adults love the Pokemon games too? Certainly not -- after all, they're just plain ol' RPGs with 400 cute characters to capture. At the end of the segment we issue a challenge to any Pokerapping...

Warning: Depending on your stance on game spoilers, you'll either love or hate this episode of the Player One Podcast. Because Gamestop locations are running a video in-store that shows the ending of Zelda: Twilight Princess, we thought it would be the perfect time to talk about spoilers. What is and is not a game spoiler? Is watching the first 10 minutes of a highly anticipated game via a webcast...

We kick off this episode on a bit of a sour note -- Phil's Xbox 360 was visited by the system-killing three red lights just two weeks after CJ's died. Clearly, Greg and Dan's systems are next. But we quickly move into greener topics, discussing Super Paper Mario (which CJ got to play a bunch of this week) and Guitar Hero II at length in our first segment. We also discuss the recent PSP price drop....

This week all four regulars are back, and just in time too for a rousing discussion of the pros and cons of the newly announced Xbox 360 Elite. With its 120GB hard drive, HDMI port (plus included cable--take that, Sony!) and sleek black curves, you'd think it'd be everything you'd ever want in a 360. Only, it's not. Let the complaining commence. Our other big discussion in this episode is about Se...

CJ's away in San Francisco, which means Phil and Greg are taking over this week and spending way too much time talking about one of their favorite systems--the Sega CD. Thrill to stories of the Sega CD launch; the greatest pack-in software bundle of all time; the synergy of Hollywood and Silicon Valley; and an in-depth review of the greatest Sega CD game you've never played. Dan even says two or t...

Welcome to a very special edition of the Player One Podcast. This is not a regular episode. It's a fan commentary for Episode 1 of Captain N: The Game Master (available now on DVD from Shout Factory). Note: You must have a copy of the set for most of the audio in this podcast to make any sense whatsoever. Here's how it works: Load up Disc 1, and go into the Episode Selection menu. Start listening...

Welcome to a very special edition of the Player One Podcast. This is not a regular episode. It's a fan commentary for Episode 1 of Captain N: The Game Master (available now on DVD from Shout Factory). Note: You must have a copy of the set for most of the audio in this podcast to make any sense whatsoever. Here's how it works: Load up Disc 1, and go into the Episode Selection menu. Start listening...

The February NPD numbers are out, and we take the opportunity to talk about each company's strategy or lack thereof for the upcoming months. Is Nintendo's continued success with the Wii going to peter out at some point soon as PS3 gets its sea legs? What does Sony need to do to emerge from its sales pit? When Game Boy Advance is outselling you, there's a problem. Next up, we tackle an issue that r...

The 2007 Game Developers Conference was held last week in San Francisco. While Greg, Chris and Phil did not attend, the "magic" of the Internet allowed us to keep tabs on the goings on. The major news? Sony's formal announcement of PlayStation Home -- your Home away from home that you can log onto from home. Is this the light at the end of the tunnel to the streak of bad press that Sony's been get...

Outside of the first segment, this week's episode is all about the latest news surrounding the PS3. Some good, some bad, but we haven't talked about PS3 much lately so we decided to devote the whole episode to it. Last week Sony and Immersion kissed and made up, which could mean the return of rumble to the Sixaxis controller (hurray!)--question is, how soon? Then there's the infamous rumor that So...

This week we present to you a very special episode of the Player One Podcast. Greg and Phil sit down with Al Lowe, creator of the Leisure Suit Larry series (not including the recent and craptacular Magna Cum Laude) and other classic Sierra On-Line graphic adventures. Listen as we pick Al's brain about everything from game design in the old days to the fall of Sierra to his opinions on the current...

This week there's no one overarching segment. Instead, we talk about a few little things, starting with the top 10 entries in Next-Gen.biz's list of the Top 100 games people played in 2006 (though the list does not include three very important entries, at least in Phil's mind). We also discuss retailer Gamestop's new program where their Aeris automated call system dials you up to ask if you want t...

There's no more controversial figure in console role-playing game fandom than Ted Woolsey. During the '90s he worked at Squaresoft and was responsible for the English translations of games like Final Fantasy III and Chrono Trigger. His work is either loved or totally reviled by fans on the Internet, with FF III's translation taking the brunt of that criticism. Nintendo and Square Enix re-released...

Virtua Calamity? Should a game reviewer be allowed to review a product when they were involved in its development, however little? Last week this question came to the forefront as word came that characters with attributes selected by editors from IGN, Ziff-Davis, Wired's GameLife (and others as well) will be included in Sega's upcoming Virtua Fighter 5, and that some of these same editors will be...

It was supposed to be a nice little segment about Zelda... ...But oh how it derailed. Yes, it's true -- in this episode we spend a fair amount of time talking about Nintendo's beloved Legend of Zelda series. From the 8-bit NES games to the current Wii (and GameCube) installment, we talk about it all. The highs, the lows, and all the heartfelt nostalgia we all feel for the series. Of course that's...

World of Dreamcast It's a special podcast this week, and not only because it's very long (and what you have here is still the result of quite a bit of editing). In Episode Lucky 13 we talk about Sega's Dreamcast, the system that became Sega's last hope as a hardware manufacturer, ultimately sending them reeling into the world of third-party publishing for competing hardware platforms. Join us as w...

Tackling Difficulty This week we take on the question of difficulty in games. Discussion includes talk of how game difficulty has changed in the past 20 years, the hardest games we've ever played, and what it's like to have to review or write a strategy guide on an extremely difficult game under the deadline crunch of a print magazine. Sometimes, it's not pretty. Our What'cha Been Playin' discussi...

The Dead Pool This is an episode you may want to keep around to reference later. Why? Because it's our first-annual 2007 Dead Pool episode, where we go 'round the circle and choose three games each we think (using absolutely no scientific means other than a "feeling") will either be canceled outright or delayed into 2008. Who will be right, who will be wrong? We'll just have to see what 2007 bring...

Player One's Shiny New Year Happy New Year everyone! While other podcasts have settled in for a long winter's nap, we hopped in the studio yet again for one more episode before all the Auld Lang Synes were sung. In this episode, Phil and Dan become "series regulars," and join Greg and CJ to talk about such things as what we'd like to see happen in 2007 (though we tried to avoid predictions outrigh...

A Festivus for the rest of us! Although our crew are traveling to various parts of the globe for the holidays, that didn't stop us from getting together earlier in the week and recording a special episode for you, dear listener, on this most busy of holidays. Special thanks to Phil Theobald and Dan Dormer, who join CJ and I once again for the final episode of the year. In lieu of our regular "what...