The Cane and Rinse videogame podcast

It's a sadistic and mind-bending romp through sci-fi horror as Ryan Hamann, James Carter, and Karl Moon discuss their journeys through the perilous and mysterious 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. Its intricate story is carefully dissected and gameplay debated by the three morphically-linked hosts. So grab some Ice-9 on a hot summer afternoon and join us as we examine 999, read contributi...

As a follow up to their critically well-received first game Bastion, Supergiant Games came up with the distinctly stylised Transistor. Ryan, James and Sean sit down and discuss their histories with the game, the characters, gameplay and it's stunning soundtrack. As always there are contributions from our community along with our Three Word Reviews. Music used in this issue: Track 1: Cut Apart by D...

A pair of PlayStation 2 games that, as we discover, were vital precursors to many rhythm action hits of the mid-to-late 2000s, including Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, Rock Band and - seemingly - several others, despite selling relatively few copies. In this podcast Leon, Josh and Karl give these early Harmonix games their due, and we also hear from some FreQuency and Amplitude playing correspondents. Musi...

With Halo 5: Guardians scheduled to arrive later this year, Cane and Rinse company drop from orbit down to the surface of the second Halo. It's easy to forget just what a big deal this release was for Bungie and Microsoft back in 2004. How do Bungie's design decisions and curtailed development fare over a decade on, and does Halo 2: Anniversary for Xbox One (part of The Master Chief Collection) ma...

Goichi Suda teamed up with co-writer Shinji Mikami to create one of the 'Capcom Five' for Nintendo GameCube in the early-mid 2000s. The result was the unique and intriguing melange of mechanics and ideas, Killer7. Leon, Josh and Sean attempt to relate the what's and wherefores of this remarkable piece of software, augmented by the opinions and recollections of the Cane and Rinse community. Music u...

The Cane and Rinse podcast concludes its Silent Hill cycle where it began, with a panel of Leon, Josh, Karl and Sean, Silent Hill: Downpour may or may not turn out to be the last ever 'proper' new Silent Hill release (Book of Memories excluded - for some discussion on both this and P.T./Silent Hills please look out on our YouTube channel), but it's likely to be our final podcast on this particular...

Silicon Knights' 2008 Xbox 360 exclusive, Too Human, was supposed to be the first in a trilogy of games. It was supposed to be the best game Denis Dyack's studio had ever produced. James, Brian and Sean Bell dissect what went right, what went wrong, and the reputation and legacy of this 'CyberNorse' action RPG. Music used in this issue: Track 1: World Serpent Action by Steve Henifin Cane and Rinse...

A late-generation cult classic or a ridiculous, slapstick B-movie take on the 3D brawler? Clover Studio wanted their cake and eat it with their 2006 swansong, God Hand, and Capcom let them have it. In Issue 177, James, Josh and Sean Bell discuss using a demonic arm to One-Inch Punch a luchador gorilla! Music used in this issue: Track 1: God Hand Theme by Masafumi Takada Track 2: Rainy Rose by Masa...

Our four podcast series tracing the history of this particular franchise concludes with MachineGames' 2014 debut, Wolfenstein: The New Order. Leon, Tony and Karl explain how the latest (until contemporary prequel The Old Blood anyway) Nazi-blaster starring William Joseph "B.J." Blazkowicz manages to feel both 'back-to-basics' and surprisingly fresh at the same time. We also hear from a number of c...

The penultimate of Cane and Rinse's eight Silent Hill podcasts sees Leon, Josh and Nick Parton from Just Add Idiots try to piece together their splintered recollections of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. As with several of the other games in this series, Climax Studios' 2009 reimagining of the original Silent Hill also inspired some excellent correspondence from our ever reliable community. Music...

Max has a snazzy shirt and new employers as he leaves behind dark, dreary New York for sunny, scorching Rio. Rockstar Games made plenty of changes for Max Payne 3, and split opinion in the so doing. James, Karl, Darren and Sean get stuck into the game, its place in the series and its legacy. Music used in this issue: Track 1: Shells by Health Track 2: Tears by Health Cane and Rinse 174 was edited...

Hanging up their Covenant sniper rifles and Dragon Greatswords to dawn the wings of a fairy princess of the Enchanted Kingdom, Ryan, Darren, Tony, and Brian journey into the magical world of Kameo: Elements of Power. With perspectives ranging from recent adopters to excited Xbox 360 launch day players to pre-production testers, this issue looks back at the very first Xbox 360 game as well as the G...

A dystopic vision (late 80s/early 90s style) of bone-crunching, metallic future sports, courtesy of the famous Bitmap Bros, first Speedball and then Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe captured the imagination of many gamers over a quarter of a century ago. Leon, Darren and Tony celebrate the frenetic violence of the first two games in the series and their myriad ports, as well as scrutinise recent re-rele...

In this, the sixth of our eight podcasts on Silent Hill, we turn our attention to 2008's Silent Hill: Homecoming. A title than many series fans seem to perceive as a controversial entry in the franchise creates some genuinely interesting discussion, as well as some of the most intriguing and passionate correspondence from our community yet. Leon, Josh, Karl and Sean are your panel for this (perhap...

Guests CJ Black (Twin Humanities) and Sean Bell (Midnight Resistance) join Leon and Jay in our entirely unbalanced Dragon's Dogma issue. That's right, you'll not find much negativity about Capcom's 2012 action RPG here (although, as always we dissect the game and talk about those aspects we feel weren't as strong as others). This show is something a love-in (right through to our listener correspon...

United Front Games fused classic Hong Kong crime cinema with contemporary open-world videogame shenanigans for 2012's Sleeping Dogs. The game that was at one stage going to be a True Crime title ended up forging its own path, carving a niche and other such phrases. Leon, Brian, James and Jay share their feelings on the finished product, aided as usual by contributions from the Cane and Rinse commu...

In our third podcast centered around the Wolfenstein series James, Brian and Tony discuss Raven Software's 2009 addition to the series - Wolfenstein. Music used in this issue: Track 1: Zeppelin Battle by Bill Brown Track 2: Main Theme by Bill Brown Cane and Rinse 168 was edited by Jay Taylor

It's back to basics for the fifth of our Silent Hill series of podcasts. Climax Group were tasked with creating this 1976 set prequel to the original Silent Hill, and after an abortive attempt by their LA studio, a less ambitious title was mainly produced in Hampshire, England. Leon, Karl, Sean and new guest panellist Nick Parton weigh up the pros and cons of the finished piece, as well as trying...

In 1995 a Square Soft development 'Dream Team' launched an epochal RPG for the Super Famicom/SNES. Chrono Trigger has since time-travelled its way to PlayStation, DS and mobiles, but does it retain an ageless charm? Leon, Brian, Josh and returning guest - along with help from our community contributors - bathe in the sumptuous 16-bit atmosphere of this twenty-year-old genre staple. Music used in t...

For those times when minigames are just too time-consuming, Mario's evil doppelganger Wario (with a little help from Nintendo R&D1) invented microgames. Leon, Darren and returning guest Dan Clark explore the world of game development, Made in Wario style. As usual our community contributors also have their say on the subject of WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! on the Game Boy Advance, plus we als...

In this show Ryan, Josh, Karl and Sean confer about Queasy Games ' 2012 side-scrolling musical platformer - Sound Shapes. They discuss their own experiences with the game, the various artists involved in the soundtrack and the title's level creation tools. Music used in this issue: Track 1: Hills 'n Spills by I Am Robot and Proud Track 2: Personnel by Jim Guthrie Track 3: Touch the People by Beck...

The last game in the series by Team Silent, Silent Hill 4: The Room is a game that so brazenly experiments with the established formula, the internet conjured forth a myth to explain its existence. One that Josh , Sean and Karl are quick to debunk. There are many dark corners to explore and mysteries to uncover within the confines of Room 302, and we discuss whether all these secrets, are worth ex...

In our first Assassin's Creed podcast for over three years we belatedly catch up with the series' fifth instalment, Assassin's Creed III. Leon, Brian, Jay and Sean debate the technical and storytelling merits and failings - both inside and outside of the Animus - of Ubisoft Montreal's 2012 American Independence epic. We have plenty of contributions from the community too, including surely the leas...

In the second of four Wolfenstein podcasts we turn our attention to Gray Matter's 2001-2003 PC and console FPS, Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Leon, Tony and Karl see what BJ Blazkowicz got up to (shooting fascists) in this id Tech 3 take on the Wolfenstein 3D formula of corridors, souped-up super Nazis and hidden caches of ill-gotten gold. A couple of our listeners just about recall the F5/F9, qui...

Join us as we explore the spider infested, alien contested and shop keeper invested world of Derek Yu's 2008 and 2012 rogue-like, platforming, homage to the likes of Rick Dangerous, Spelunky. Josh, James, Darren and Sean focus their attention on the 2012 remake, as it's the game that we are, and most of you listening will probably be, most familiar with. However, do not fear, the original freeware...