Episode 587: Ubisoft Forward

This week the gang reacts to Ubisoft’s pseudo-E3 presentation showing off their upcoming games, including Watch Dogs Legion, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World: The Game: The Remaster, and Riders Republic, and Yves Guillemot’s strange pre-show video.

Other news items include:

  • Bungie emphatically denies Microsoft buyout rumor
  • Former Witcher 3 devs are launching a sci-fi novel-inspired game

Let us know what you think.

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Episode 597: Demon’s XmasEpisode 597: Demon’s Xmas

2020 is coming to a close, and the crew talk about the absolute shitshow that Cyberpunk 2077 has been in the past few weeks. The Gaming Flashback this week is Demon’s Souls, which is a game that T.J. loves and hates. They also discuss how the PlayStation 5 is in trouble.

This week’s news items include:

  • Cyberpunk 2077 devs reportedly angry with management about unrealistic deadlines
  • Report finds PS5 scalpers are ‘threatening long-term health of the console’
  • Report: No More Heroes 1 and 2 are coming to PC

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Episode 677: Let’s Try AgainEpisode 677: Let’s Try Again

Where’s episode 676? Completely unlistenable. Not to mention this episode had to be reuploaded due to file corruption.

The guys discuss Valve luring cheaters into a trap, Nvidia predicting AI models 1,000,000 times more powerful than ChatGPT within 10 years, Sons of the Forest being inexplicably popular, EA making Dead Space 2 and 3 remakes, and an absolutely adorable Tunic plushie.

The news includes:

  • Next Civilization game officially announced by Firaxis
  • Beyond Good & Evil 2 studio reportedly under investigation for “unprecedented” burnout and sick leave
  • Sony’s State of Play 2023
  • Blumhouse’s new gaming division will focus on “indie budget” games

Let us know what you think.

Gaming Flashback: Lode RunnerGaming Flashback: Lode Runner

Lode Runner, a game many of us logged hundreds of hours upon. Lode Runner has a great deal of replay value thanks to its great map editor. The game was first published by Broderbund in 1983, but was first prototyped by Douglas Smith, an architecture student at the University of Washington.

The Lode Runner prototype was called Kong and was originally written for a Prime Computer 550 minicomputer on campus, but shortly after it was ported to the VAX minicomputer. Originally programmed in FORTRAN and utilized only ASCII character graphics (the most basic of characters).

In September of 1982 Smith was able to port it to the Apple II+ (in assembly language) and renamed it to Miner. In October of that same year he submitted a rough copy to Broderbund and he’s said to have received a one-line rejection letter, “Sorry, your game doesn’t fit into our product line; please feel free to submit future products.”

The original title had no joystick support and was developed in full black and white…not exactly exciting. So, Smith then borrowed money to purchase a color monitor and joystick and continued to improve the game. Around Christmas of 1982, he submitted the game, now renamed Lode Runner, to four publishers and quickly received offers from all four: Sierra, Sirius, Synergistic, and Brøderbund.

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