Yo Videogames

Yo! Videogames Hype Man and Dood Extraordinaire Steve joins Matt and I today to discuss the latest clash between PC-bros and Anti-SJWs! Overwatch developer Blizzard just agreed to remove a victory pose from the game for one of its female characters after a user reported that they found the pose sexual and out of character. This sparked a deeper conversation about possible hypersensitivity and whether or not it should be addressed.   Find Steve on twitter @INFINITE_SGE and give him love for being on the show!   Shine on Doods!

Is it a bad move to include an Easy Mode to your game? Does it defile the spirit of the game? Are you just a prick? We talk about all this and more on todays episode of YoVG Podcast! Shine on dudes!

Ring the bells! Gather your loved ones! Dress all in black! E3 is dying before our eyes. It's only a matter of time until it's gone. Activision is the latest in the list of 3rd party publishers to pull out of E3(the others being Disney, EA and WarGames) With that loss, it seems like no one cares anymore. Today we share stories from our favorite times at E3 and then discuss possible ways to save it, if it should be saved at all.   Shine on!

As we come to the end of our LoZ retrospective, Matt and I wanted to discuss some final thoughts and feelings on this now 30 year old franchise. We are currently going through Twilight Princess HD on Man Mode on my stream (that is: hero mode plus Ganondorf amiibo for 4x damage, and only boss hearts). And with a new Legend of Zelda looming this holiday season we wanted to address our favorite moments and what makes a Zelda game great. Matt is a die hard Zelda fan, surprise, and I'm more casual about it, another surprise. Thing is, I think for every gamer, casual or hard core, Zelda holds a special place. I give my reasons and Matt gives his. Let me know on Twitter what your favorite Zelda moments are! As always, Shine on!

Microsoft, or rather Phil Specter believes consoles will go the way of regular hardware updates (think XBONE, then a year and XBONE PLUS comes out) rather than 5 year generations. I don't like the sound of that, honestly. Means consoles will get a hell of a lot more expensive long term and honestly may kill the interest in consoles entirely. In addition to that beautiful idea, we talk about Windows/XBONE Spring 2016 line up. SPOILER: it's not that exciting.   Shine on dudes!

Main Characters... Do they have to be compelling in order to make the game great? Do they have to be white males to do well in wide release? Market research apparently says generic white males sell best but I have a hard time believing that when there are so many examples of female, and  minority protagonist games performing wonderfully. Metroid being an example, or GTA San Andreas as another.    Let us now what you guys think, and as always, Shine on dudes!

Today let's get into some fighting game talk. Max gets a chance to join us and it couldn't be for a better episode. And with Street Fighter V being released just a couple days ago (two days after recording), this topic couldn't be more on point. We talk about what makes a fighting game great and what can be done to create a new IP that does well. I'm sure you guys have lots to say about this, so be sure to hit me up on twitter or Matt on Youtube. Especially, give a shout to Max and let him know we appreciate him on the show! Enjoy, and Shine on!    

(The following is my opinion in retrospect, with time to reflect. Matt doesn't have that opportunity. So, when I say my understanding of his opinion, please know I am only saying it in it's most boiled down form.) Censorship is generally a shady proposition in my opinion. I don't like the idea of someone else deciding for me what I can or cannot see. I play devils advocate to Simmons this episode, but especially after the fact, I feel the need to clear something up. That is: Art should never be censored. However, again in my opinion, something like a game totally about rape, is not art and I will never be bothered by it being censored. Simmons feels that if you censor anything, even something he considers to be revolting work, it can lead to serious problems in the future. I have to agree that censorship is a dangerous road, but I have a hard time reconciling the idea that we should just allow some honestly disgusting stuff to exist. Namely, a game about rape, or involving children in sexual exploitation, dra

Working on Maximilian's Assist Me Web series was a big part of my life for a few years. It became the first passion project our group of friends would work on together. Matt was out of town this weekend, but it turned out Mike Young was in town. He played various characters on the show and designed their costumes, as well as a ton of the writing for the series. I've wanted to have him on the podcast for a while so we decided to tell some stories, or at least our side of the stories from the various Assist Me productions. If you guys end up digging this bonus episode, I'll try and get Max and Simmons in on an episode to get their favorite/horror stories from the production. I'm sure they have plenty of insane things Mike and I missed/didn't see/don't remember.   If you haven't seen Assist Me, but are interested, check them out over on Max's Youtube Channel!   Shine on!

Game Development is surrounded by a veritable cloud of opinions. Buzz words and PR BS make it difficult to get a grip on the process of development and it leaves itself open to rampant speculation. I need to learn more about the process, so it's time to bust up some of those myths and clear up the misunderstandings.

Remember when you were a kid and you loved a game (or even a movie) so much that you played it over and over and over again? Then, you grew up and somewhere along the line, someone came to you and said "Buy this, it's just like that thing you loved." And you did. You bought that game/movie/nudiemag. Was it like how you remembered? No. Someone took a huge dump on your memories right? Maybe it's your fault though. Let's talk about nostalgia. It has pros and cons like anything. Maybe it is responsible for us not giving the love to games that deserve it, and maybe it's responsible for how we overlook the peanuts in a pile of crap we bought and played.   As always SHINE ON! And share and like and junk.

Is there a development company or publisher you trust? By that I mean, you'll take what they say at face value, and trust that they are being upfront. Personally, i think it is perfectly fine to try and put your company in the best light. However, the urge to do that can lead to out right lies, some small, others massive. The quick example of a small lie? "We are delaying the game to make it look better/change a dynamic." And then it is delayed by a month or two. We all know that is just a tactic to put out a fire and fix an unexpected bug last minute. the game won't be drastically improved or changed because that simply isn't enough time to do anything of note. That being said, there are a few companies we feel to be trustworthy overall. Let's dig in!   As always, SHINE ON DOODS!  

How do you feel about Twitch? It's become a pillar of the gaming community, and an undeniable outlet for creatives. It's arguably replacing YouTube when it comes to gaming. Even to the point that YouTube has tried to launch it's own streaming service for gaming. So let's talk about our personal experience with streaming and what effect we think it will have on games in the future. Will single player thrive or fall? Personally, streaming has opened me up to games I never would have played, so I remain optimistic.   As Always, Shine on Doods!

Oculus Rift dropped the line on its price tag finally ($599). Not surprising but a bit eye-popping! That price includes two games (Lucky's Tale and Eve: Valkyrie) and an Xbone controller. As a peripheral, this means you'll also have to drop a grand on a gaming PC. Now, I'm optimistic about the potential for VR today but holy hell... I won't be getting one of these for a long while if ever.   Let's debate the value of VR and if it's worth the money!   Shine on Doods!

Happy New Year! We forget to say that, but we mean it. You guys have been awesome and we look forward to growing and playing more games next year! In this episode we go over what surprised us most this year, as well as our biggest disappointments. Of course, our answers are skewed because we are a small operation and we are telling you the truth as we see it. We didn't play all the games that deserved to be played and we probably missed something fantastic. Let us know. Matt and I wish you all the best for the New Year and as always SHINE ON DOODS!

Do you remember that time you held out hope for miracles? Well, we're in the season for just that kind of hope! So, now's the time to list our Miracle Games. Will these games ever happen? I'd say probably not... Hell, definitely not for most of these. We're dreamers, folks. Come dream with us! We're not just going to name the games we want to see, but we are going to debut our (sometimes) insane ideas for where these games could go. Let me know what you guys think, as always on twitter @Phunkmachine.   Shine on and Happy Holidays!

Honestly, I haven't been interested in the Xbox One. I was a big fan of the 360. I was even a fairly big fan of the Original Xbox. However, the Xbox One has had a total of zero first party games that got me excited enough to buy the system. It has a far superior controller compared to the PS4 but on any other front it seems Sony is kicking Microsoft's butt this generation. Can they make a come back? I think so. Matt thinks they'll only ever get to second place at best, but I have hope that they could give Sony a challenge. How do they do it? Beefing their first party titles, of course. Phil Spencer has said that's just what he intends to do, so we'll see. For now, we wait. I hope they go back to their classic IPs, and Matt hopes they'll throw money at old, forgotten, but beloved IPs. That will win us back and I think gamers everywhere will benefit from the battle between Sony and Microsoft.   Shine on!

Everyone wants to talk about Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Is Square Enix going to drop the ball? More importantly, are they going to try and screw us? The latter seems pretty likely at the moment. What we can't figure out is how this company hasn't learned to be transparent yet! FF7 remake - Let's talk about the Possible Pros an episodic release presents: It could be indulgent in environments, and cinematic presentation. It may mean we can see the first episode within the next two years. It may mean they won't cut anything, even mini-games.   Cons: It may mean cutting the world map. It may mean not being able to return to previous areas. There's no clear definition by Square about what constitutes a "full length" game. PR people tend to be full of crap, so nothing is assured. After that, Matt fills us in on his game of show, and a couple other fun games that look like they have a lot of potential!   As always dudes, please rate and subscribe!   Shine on!

Ever wonder what makes a game bad? Can those games still be fun? Matt and I determine a quick criteria. 1. Controls 2. Design 3. Mechanics Then we go at it over UNDENIABLE classics like Blasto. And other games he mentioned that don't really matter because Blasto had Phil Hartman.   Ok I'll tell the truth. I just now watched game play from Blasto and I'll be honest... it's pretty awful. Anyway, let us know what you guys think are some terrible games!   Shine on Doods!

Do I have shooters in my list? You bet your sweet buns. Does Simmons have an obscure, mostly untranslated, Japanese game on his list? You bet those toasty tots. Does this list have a little bit for everybody? You better believe it, toots! I'm a casual gamer. Everyone knows that now. I won't always have the deepest insight into a game's design. I'm competitive as all hell, so multiplayer games tend to draw me in. What I tried to do with my list was show a wide variety of games I loved and love still and think you'll love too. Sure, most of you have probably played most of these games, but if you haven't, here you go! If you have, let's talk about it! Matt, as always, has a shocking amount of information about the games he picks and even the games I picked. My favorite thing about this episode is the moment we finished recording, Matt and I kept talking about the games and I wanted to change a few of my answers because I remembered others that should be on the list. I know you guys are going to have a field day