Watch Out For Fireballs!

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Commander Keen 4 and 5, along with some straggler responses to Call of Duty 4. LINKS OF NOTE: Darkest Dungeon (www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQLxdHfMPF8) Keen Dreams (www.youtube.com/watch?v=scC5hbMQYlE) Thank you for Smoking (www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBELC_vxqhI) No, I cannot find anything for Pork, The Zork Like.

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross walk backward and talk about Commander Keen in "Goodbye, Galaxy!" We're always looking to shore up blind spots in the games we cover. After nearly four years of doing this show, it's important to avoid ruts. Commander Keen represents a particular stripe of PC platformers that was ultimately an evolutionary dead end. But in his time, Commander Keen was charming and fun. This episode actually covers two games: "The Secret of the Oracle" and "The Armageddon Machine". The former is an essential play, the latter is dull garbage. LINKS OF NOTE: ID on SMB3 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj4HJkeQSg0) Moraff's World (www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPaEx35bWSA) Errant Signal on Doom (www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyOF2RsO3ck) The Wrestler (www.youtube.com/watch?v=61-GFxjTyV0) Terrence Trent D'Arby (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynIHsHYaig0) What Brownian Motion Actually Is (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownian_motion)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to... well, some weird stuff, because nobody wrote in about Call of Duty 4 on time. LINKS OF NOTE: Jan and Dean (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_Qr6Ky1Lbg) The Fabled Lands (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabled_Lands) Wolf in White Van (www.nytimes.com/2014/09/26/books/…rnielle.html?_r=0)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross noscope with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Call of Duty has become emblematic of AAA bloat. Podcasts like ours tend to dismiss it out of hand as the poster child for a kind of game that hasn't just run out of ideas, but refuses to be reflective about the ideas it does have. It could be argued that it all began here. However, it's more complicated than that. Call of Duty 4 is a perfectly fine shooter with moments that really stand out. Moreover, it's a game that has heart, from a series that notoriously lacks it. LINKS OF NOTE: Hardline (www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0TfCQAQJAE) See how no one ever hits anyone else? (www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE9CEC7hZJw) Generation Kill (www.youtube.com/watch?v=bobBTYwkDhc) Aerial America (www.youtube.com/watch?v=izIc-lcvmEw) Gary owns one of these (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidator_%28Chernobyl%29) Heat (www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xbBLJ1WGwQ) Dragon, throw me (arresteddevelopment.wikia.com/wiki/Ready…,_Marry_Me)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to game book and Choose Your Own Adventures. LINKS OF NOTE: Choose Your Own Autobiography (www.amazon.com/Neil-Patrick-Harr…phy/dp/0385346999) The Aviator Book (www.amazon.com/Howard-Hughes-The…ife/dp/0312329970) The Crystal Trap (zelda.wikia.com/wiki/The_Crystal_Trap)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross venture forth to discuss game books, choose your own adventures, and Steve Jackson's Sorcery! What is game? It's any interactive experience that has both failure states and a success state. By that reasoning, game books are games. Also, it's in the name. This special episode is all about non-video interactive narratives, books with branching paths and mechanics. We cover the Bantam Choose Your Own Adventure Books, Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf, Steve Jackson's Sorcery!, the Goosebumps Choose Your Own Scare, and more. For as nostalgic as this topic is, there's a surprising connection between these books and the current crop of narrative-driven games we play today. LINKS OF NOTE: You Chose Wrong (youchosewrong.tumblr.com/) Clickventure (www.clickhole.com/clickventure/mys…ow-island-1880#2,) Quest for Glory (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Glory) Gamebook Archives (www.gamebooks.org/) The Two Jakes (www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWbiQAr8miI) Black Bug Room (marvel.wikia.com/Black_Bug_Room)

Gary Butterfield, Kole Ross, and Zack Johnson read your responses to Star Control II, then talk about disgusting stuff for a little while. LINKS OF NOTE: Ultranomicon (wiki.uqm.stack.nl/Star_Control_II) Chubby Bunny (www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/chubbybunny.asp) Rainbow Party (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_par…_%28sexuality%29) S-Rank (www.giantbomb.com/s-rank/3015-2962/)

Gary Butterfield, Kole Ross, and Zack Johnson open a hailing frequency to talk about Star Control II. The Ur-Quan and their battle thralls have dominated this quadrant of the galaxy, and it's up to a human crew with some Precursor technology to reunite the Alliance of Free Stars and act as liberators. This is a game that defies categorization. Part space combat arcade game, part resource gathering, part adventure game... the larger picture of all of these pretty little parts is an engrossing world filled with varied and interesting species and civilizations, each with their own stories to tell. This ranks really high up there on our list of favorite games we've done on the show, and we really recommend you check it out. LINKS OF NOTE: 3DO controller (www.google.com/search?q=3do+cont…g&biw=999&bih=810) Star Control 1. Mute the dude (www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX0M2Ftf6ho) Article on Starflight (www.filfre.net/2014/10/starflight/) The Velvet Fog (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Torm%C3%A9) 2001 Sequels (en.wikipedia.org

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Jet Set Radio. The audience was mostly in agreement with us that the game is a case of style over substance. But tune in to hear the praise anyway, because damn is that style good. Also, Brayton Cameron calls in to educate us on where the music in Jet Set Radio comes from. LINKS OF NOTE: Alcatraz Audio Tour (www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XLoMqydKN4) African Grey Parrot (www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH80gzSs790) Shibuya-Kei (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibuya-kei) Iron and Blood (www.youtube.com/watch?v=xotDSUM4v0k) Revolt of Gamers (www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N-rD0F3Psk) Noah's Arcade (www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDP9jfIwe7A) Umberto Eco's Getting Up (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_Eco)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross dig through the ditches of Jet Set Radio. It's gang warfare in its most stylish and innocent form. It's also a gleeful tribute to free expression in the face of corporate oppression. It's got one of the best soundtracks in any game, ever. Difficulty issues aside, this is a unique game that's worth playing if only to see the kinds of strange things that happened in the Dreamcast era. Links of Note: WOFF! T-Shirt (http://teespring.com/watch-out-for-fireballs-logo) Encephalitis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalitis) JSR Documentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YayOHx6K7b4) The Sea Urchin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkM-nRL_U38) Harvey Bullock (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdY4e5DAFUU) John Woo's Stranglehold (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vuqyFMu0Sg) GGG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Love#GGG) Smokin' Aces (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwJhJV5yipo)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Brave Fencer Musashi. LINKS OF NOTE: These guys. Don't watch this (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt0_oPPK6eA) Malabar Farm (www.youtube.com/watch?v=A42yI287qD4) Treehouse Cuts (www.yelp.com/biz/the-tree-house…nd-toys-new-york-2) Palace music (www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpJ8ZrQ0DyQ)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross absorb Brave Fencer Musashi. What happens when a young swordsman is summoned into a world built entirely around food puns? An episode that splits our hosts on whether or not Brave Fencer Musashi stood the test of time. This won our Winter Action RPG 2015 poll, and Kole sincerely hopes he doesn't offend any listeners by saying mean things about this game. LINKS OF NOTE: Musashi (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyamoto_Musashi) Musashi Samurai Legend (www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6c4ltTvDOU) Malediction Prophecy (twitter.com/liartownusa/status/304839693458092032) Flame Mammoth (www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q0TtnNZ1Rg) Steve Blum (www.steveblumvoices.com/) Time Makes Fools of Us All (www.imdb.com/title/tt0584442/quotes) Frieza (www.youtube.com/watch?v=njvgKUSR8Ss)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to Rock Band. Links of Note: Gneiss Schist (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schist) Guitar Hero Arcade (guitarhero.wikia.com/wiki/Guitar_Hero_Arcade)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross jam on Rock Band. Music games used to be massive, but now they barely exist. Those plastic instruments helped us feel like we could play music. For me personally, these games helped me get better at appreciating music, and encouraged me to learn more instruments myself. Rock Band was the king of the heap, in quality if not always in sales, and now you can hear us jaw about music for three hours. Links of Note: Counting Blue Cars (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clxtg2pFTQM) Drum Notation (www.google.com/search?espv=2&tbm…1&biw=953&bih=848) Rock Revolution (www.youtube.com/watch?v=656yWb3hjc4) Rock Band 3d Printing (www.pddnet.com/articles/2009/10/…ck-band-figurines) Hole Guitar Isolated (www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-xUwDARVb4) RHCP2014 (rhcp2014.com/) Role Models (www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Bst-K65RpI) Money City Maniacs- Sloan (www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXh81JTt0ng) The Way - Fastball (youtu.be/b0wfu3tOrtQ) For Real - Okkervil River (www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlB2XLmA4Ec) Venus - Television (ww

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross read your responses to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Links of Note: Pollos Hermanos (www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIQ2F3T1ydM) Greatest Mod of All Time (www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF-XMtNEudQ) LGNPC. Look at these fonts! (lgnpc.org/) False Dmitriy (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_Dmitriy_I) KOTOR iOS (www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYFO1ESyJzA)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross meander through the remaining quest lines in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. This is the final chapter of our Morrowind adventure. Things take a religious bent as we look at the Tribunal Temple and the Imperial Cult, then we get a little martial with the Imperial Legion. We ask which Great House is the greatest, and decide that building your own house is kinda dumb. Finally, we serve the occult by doing the Vampire and Daedra quests. It's a show 'n' tell grab bag of the rest of the best. LINKS OF NOTE: Onion Romantic Comedy (www.theonion.com/articles/romanti…an-arrested,757/) EC on MMO Quests (www.youtube.com/watch?v=otAkP5VjIv8) VVVVVV (www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxuacwotoQw) Cool World (www.youtube.com/watch?v=q32xMkroUwE)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross profess ambivalence about the guild quests in The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Sure, the world is in danger... but there's rats to be slain. Also, corrupt and inept guild leaders to oust. Part 2 of our Morrowind series dives into the Fighters, Mages and Thieves guilds, along with the Morag Tong (Assassins). This is where the game falls down a little bit, and the "go here, kill thing, grab thing, return with thing" quest structure starts to wear thin. Links of Note: Lamarckism (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamarckism) Percious Mercious, Vvardenfell State (www.youtube.com/watch?v=gODZzSOelss) The Peter Principle (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle) Liartown (liartownusa.tumblr.com/)

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross expand upon the main quest of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. It's the biggest game we've ever done for the show. It's so big that it's immune to our usual treatment. This isn't a text you can read from front to back. Instead, it's a world you inhabit. This episode sees us completing the main quest of Morrowind, fulfilling the Nerevarine prophecies and defeating the evil Dagoth Ur. But that's only one part of the story. Next week, we will look into the various guilds of Morrowind. Links of Note: Elder Lore Podcast (elderlore.wordpress.com/) Mod we used (www.ornitocopter.net/morrowind-overhaul/) Linda Carter in Skyrim (www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJLSbQ72mHE) Renraku Arcology (shadowrun.wikia.com/wiki/Renraku_Arcology) Banhammer (www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiII8z_KK7g) Sometimes when you're searching for Mojo, you find miracles (www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLzZITnwVLk) Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKcIG8D8FOY) Vivec Essay (fallingawkwardly.wordpress.com/2010/

The attendees of the Portland Retro Games Expo 2014 speak their minds about Street Fighter II.

Gary Butterfield and Kole Ross frame-jab a double-floop in Street Fighter II, live from the Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2014. We managed to do it, guys. We managed to not only expose how bad we are at Street Fighter II to a whole convention hall of convention-goers... but we got up on stage and acted like experts. This is the first live episode of the show to go out on the feed, and we couldn't be more grateful for the support of our listeners. It made the whole thing possible. Extra-special thanks to Brayton Cameron and Nick Glauber for helping us man the booth. You are magical people. Links of Note: From Masher to Master (shoryuken.com/srk/FightingGamePrimer.pdf)