The Joy of Gaming Podcast

Episode 40 - Titans, Thieves, Vikings and Lightning

The Joy of Gaming Podcast, Episode 40:

Titans, Thieves, Vikings and Lightning

On this momentous 40^th episode of The Joy of Gaming Podcast, it’s all about the games, as we (Rich, Tim and Jordan) break all of our previous records with a gigantic two-and-a half hour discussion of the games we’ve been playing, including many of this Spring’s biggest releases. We discuss Titanfall, Thief, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Bravely Default, Earth Defense Force 2025, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Final Fantasy 13: Lightning Returns, The Banner Saga, Marvel Puzzle Quest, Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, Dark Souls, Papers Please, and much more.

We also have some exciting gaming news to discuss, including the announcement of Rocksteady’s new next-gen Batman game Arkham Knight, Rovio’s forthcoming RPG Angry Birds Epic, Double Fine’s unexpected unveiling of Costume Quest 2, an update on Twitch Plays Pokemon, Doodle Jump’s record breaking run, Everquest’s 15-year anniversary, Strider’s strident sales, Stallion83’s record-breaking achievement of 1 million gamerscore, 999: The Novel for iPad, Operation Bluebird and the status of Zero Escape 3, The Last of Us film details, and more. And as always, we also talk about the new articles you can find at thejoyofgaming.net.

Spring is here…and it’s a great time to be a gamer. This…is the Joy of Gaming! 

Episode 39 - Titanfall Beta, Lightning Returns: FF13 and Video Game Music

The Joy of Gaming Podcast, Episode 39:

Titanfall Beta, Lightning Returns: FF13 and Video Game Music

On This episode of The Joy of Gaming podcast, we (Rich, Tom and Jordan) discuss one of the most important and celebrated elements of video games – their music – and the many ways in which video game music has changed and evolved over the years. From the chiptune genius of Zelda, Mario and Sonic, to the full-orchestral majesty of today’s biggest titles, we trace the evolution of gaming music in an effort to understand just how important the soundtrack really is to the overall gaming experience.

But first, we discuss the games we’ve been playing, most notably some of Q1’s biggest releases including Titanfall, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13, and Earth Defense Force 2025. Other games discussed include: Marvel Puzzle Quest, Dragon’s Crown, Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, The Witcher 2: Assassin’s of Kings and Far Cry 3. We also take a minute to tell you about a few board games we’ve been playing recently – Legendary, a.k.a. the Marvel deck-building game, and Thunderstone.

Then it’s on to news, including Twitch Plays Pokemon and all of its glorious drama and anarchy vs. democracy debates, Harmonix’s new rhythm shooter Chroma, Cliff Bleszinski’s latest controversial comments regarding Gears of War, Halo 2 Anniversary rumors, Castlevania 2: Lords of Shadow early reviews, and more. And we finish the news with our latest segment about what new articles you can find at our website -TheJoyofGaming.net - including a new series we’re introducing called the Sequel Slump, Jordan’s 10 Best Games of all Time, and more.

Talking for hours about amazing video game music and all of the best new gaming releases can be hard work - let me tell ya - but hey, somebody’s gotta do it. This…is the Joy of Gaming!

Episode 38 - The Joy of Video Game Worlds

The Joy of Gaming Podcast, Episode 38:

The Joy of Video Game Worlds

On this episode of The Joy of Gaming podcast, we (Rich, Tim and Jordan) explore one of the most important aspects of video games:  the various worlds - real and imaginary - that they take us to. Using a combination of visual art, sound design, story and gameplay, games have the ability to immerse us in new and wildly creative worlds more effectively than any other medium. As an acknowledgement of their contributions to gaming as a whole, we each choose our top three favorite video game worlds, and discuss what it is that makes each of them so exceptional.

But first, we start the way we always do, by talking about the games we’ve been playing over the past few weeks. The lively discussion includes: Dragon’s Crown, Tearaway, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, Flappy Bird, Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, Killer is Dead, Plants vs. Zombies 2, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, 10,000,000 and more.

Then we move on to gaming news, including the Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor gameplay demo (and it’s similarities to Assassin’s Creed 2), Earth Defense Force 2025’s delay, Mind=0 (and how it’s not Persona), the Sly Cooper movie announcement, Rust and it’s social implications, Xbox One price drop rumors, and more. We also debut a new segment where we talk about our website (TheJoyofGaming.net) and the stories you can find there, before moving on to our final segment.

Video game worlds can take us away from our everyday lives to a majestic fantasy world, or instead, they can give us an interpretation or re-creation of real locations from the past or present. On the other hand, game worlds are often more symbolic than literal - Flower’s surreal garden-scape for example, or Tetris’ “rigid” representation of Russian society. And then there are the many interpretations of heaven and hell that games like God of War, Devil May Cry, Doom and El Shaddai have given us; the possibilities are virtually endless.  But no matter what type of world they are trying to create, there is no doubt that some games do it better than others. In this segment, we each choose our three favorite game worlds of all time, and break down what it is that makes them so compelling. Oh, and we also try our absolute best to avoid using the word “immersive” too often, and believe us - it’s harder than it sounds.   

So fire up your console or PC and take a trip to any place you can imagine, because this…is the Joy of Gaming!

Episode 37 - MAGFest 12, a Website is Born, and Video Games Galore

The Joy of Gaming Podcast, Episode 37:

MAGFest 12, a Website is Born, and Video Games Galore

On this episode of The Joy of Gaming Podcast, we (Rich, Tim and Jordan) start the year off right with our discussion of this year’s Music and Gaming Festival, or MAGFest 12.  But first, there’s some big personal news to discuss, as we’re launching a new website at TheJoyofGaming.net – a place where we can offer additional written content, links and multimedia goodness, and bring more of our particular brand of gaming discussion to the world.  

And then, after the ground stops shaking from this momentous website news, we go on to do what we do best - talking about the many video games we've been playing over the last few weeks. Our discussion includes: Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, The Walking Dead: Season 1 and 400 Days, Knack, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Resident Evil 6, Thomas Was Alone, Plants vs. Zombies 2, Pikmin 2, Still Life, Mega Man Zero Collection, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, and more. Plus, as an added bonus, we wander into some discussion of new TV, including Community Season 5, True Detective, and Hannibal.

Next, we dive into some news topics, including the Left 4 Dead team’s new game Evolve, the announcement of a variety of Steam Machines, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, various Kickstarter projects including the breaking up of Broken Age, the new direction of Playstation Now, and more.

And then it’s on to the main event – our discussion of our favorite event of the year.  For the uninitiated, MAGFest can best be described as a 4-day long, 24-hour-a-day video game party held in a massive hotel just outside of Washington D.C.. Throughout each day, panels are held, bands play video game music, and attendees and guests play games of every kind – board games, live action and cosplay, and of course, lots of video games. We talk about the many great experiences we had at this year’s festivities, including the games we played, people we met, Tim’s new MAGES panels, and all of the other trouble we got into over the weekend.

It’s the start of a big and ambitious year for us, and we couldn't be more excited to have you along for the ride. This…is the Joy of Gaming.

Episode 36 - Game of the Year 2013

The Joy of Gaming Podcast, Episode 36:

Game of the Year 2013

It all comes down to this, fellow gamers – an episode exactly one year in the making. This… is the Joy of Gaming Podcast’s “Game of the Year 2013” spectacular! It's our third year of awards, and if the past two years are any indication, it promises to be 2+ hours of thrills, chills and stunning twists. We (Rich, Tim and Jordan) have played as many of this year’s game releases as possible in order to bring you our definitive take on the year in gaming. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the show.

This year’s categories include:

Best Game
Best Character
Best Story
Most Disappointing Game
Worst Game

And this year, each of us has chosen our own unique category, to shine a light on some aspect of gaming that we feel deserves attention. Surprises are literally guaranteed, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.  After all, this episode exists to celebrate a year in the life of the video game, an art form that continues to evolve and surprise us all.

This… is the Joy of Gaming!

*Note: We tried to pack so much content into this episode that GarageBand exploded. Thus, the very end of the episode is missing, but trust me, we were just about to wrap up when it happened. We just didn't have a chance to say: "Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year from the Joy of Gaming Podcast, and thanks again for listening and your continued support."  

Episode 35 - The Cross-Gen Episode, starring Xbox One

The Joy of Gaming Podcast, Episode 35:

The Cross-Gen Episode, starring Xbox One

On this transformative episode of the Joy of Gaming podcast, we (Rich, Tim and Jordan) find ourselves in an interesting space – smack in the middle of two generations of gaming. The Xbox One and Playstation 4 have both been released now, and we’ve been playing some of the best those systems have to offer. But none of us are completely ready to abandon our “last gen” consoles either, as there are still some amazing games left to catch up on (Mass Effect 3, anyone?), and a few titles – South Park: The Stick of Truth, Persona 5, etc. – that will still be launching on 360 and PS3 in the year to come. We find ourselves in “Cross-gen” limbo, and I’ll tell you what – there are a lot of great games to play, and even more exciting things to talk about.

Up first, we talk about the games of “last gen” we’ve been playing, including: Assassin’s Creed 3 and 4, Lego Marvel, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, XCOM: Enemy Within, Disney Infinity, Deadpool, Device 6, Payday 2, Civilization V: Brave New World, and many more. We also cover a bit of gaming news, most notably Telltale Games’ announcements of Tales from the Borderlands and a new episodic Game of Thrones game, Atlus’s multi-tiered announcement regarding the future of the Persona series, and a bit of discussion about next-gen “definitive” editions of games, unofficially sponsored by Tomb Raider.

And then we turn our attention to the main event – our first forays into the brave new world of “next gen” gaming, courtesy of the Xbox One. We talk about all of our first impressions of the system, including the new user interface, Kinect and voice commands, the way achievements work, the new controller, the Netflix and Hulu experience, snapping, and a lot more. Then we discuss the games we’ve played so far, namely Dead Rising 3, Ryse, Need for Speed: Rivals, and Forza 5. It’s all very, very exciting.

The wait is finally over, the future is here, and it is a really good time to be a gamer. This…is the Joy of Gaming!

Episode 34 - A Fond Farewell to a Console Generation

The Joy of Gaming Podcast, Episode 34:

A Fond Farewell to a Console Generation

Well fellow gamers, it’s been eight long years since the last significant new console launch, but Sony’s Playstation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One have finally arrived. We will go into depth about these new consoles in the coming weeks, but first we spend an episode looking back on the generation that was, and bid a fond farewell to PS3 and Xbox 360.

First though, we have some amazing new fall game releases to discuss, including deeper impressions of games we’ve previously discussed a bit - like Batman Arkham Origins, Beyond Two Souls and Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag - and some new games we’ve just started to dig into, including XCOM: Enemy Within, Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, Batman Arkham Origins: Blackgate, and Rayman: Fiesta Run for iOS.

We also discuss a bit of gaming news, including the launch of the PS4 (initial sales numbers, rumors of console failures, and the first crop of games), new story DLC for The Last of Us called “Left Behind", The announcement of Naughty Dog’s next Nathan Drake-tacular extravaganza - aka Uncharted 4, Xbox One Resolution-Gate, the ridiculously high review scores A Link Between Worlds and Super Mario 3D World are receiving, and more.  

And then…we turn our attention to “The Greatest (Console) Generation” – Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 – which will always be known as “Next-Gen” in our gamer hearts.  These are the consoles that changed the face of gaming and brought video games to the masses, and we discuss their storied run with more than a hint of favoritism and nostalgia. Our conversation includes: the rise of downloadable games on Xbox Live Arcade and PSN, DLC add-ons, the biggest 360 and PS3 franchises, innovations of the generation (Kinect, PS Eye), flops of the generation (Kinect, PS Eye - hehe), the concept of gaming console as media and entertainment hub, apps like Netflix, Hulu and YouTube, and much more. And we finish with our fondest memories of each console, and reveal our picks of the games that defined the generation. 

The Next, Next Gen is here, and it's only a matter of time before we have to move on for good. But as we move forth, boldly, into the wild, blue, 1080p yonder, may we never forget that which came before. This... is the Joy of Gaming!

Episode 33 - Batman Arkham Origins, Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, Beyond: Two Souls and Pokemon X/Y

The Joy of Gaming Podcast, Episode 33:

Batman Arkham Origins, Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, Beyond: Two Souls and Pokemon X/Y

On this decidedly epic episode of the Joy of Gaming Podcast, we (Rich, Tim and Jordan) take to the studio once more to tempt not the fates, and discuss the season’s biggest game releases.

First up it’s Beyond: Two Souls, Quantic Dream’s cinematic follow-up to 2010’s fantastically moody Heavy Rain. Writer/Director David Cage’s new game is a quick-time-event-laden ode to ghosts, death and the afterlife, and it has been very divisive among critics and outspoken gamers alike. We discuss the game on its own merits, and also discuss it in comparison to Quantic’s previous offerings, including Indigo Prophecy.  

Next, we hit the high seas with pirate-assassin Edward Kenway in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag. Last year’s Assassin’s Creed 3 concluded the modern day Desmond story, and also left many fans a bit cold due to a plot that took too long to get moving, a less-charismatic main character, and a rough game launch due to many significant bugs and glitches. With Black Flag, all indications so far seem to point to the series finally getting its bearings again, but this certainly isn’t your father’s Assassin’s Creed. With a new focus on seafaring and ship battles, and an entirely optional modern-day section, Ubisoft took a lot of risks with this one, and we discuss whether or not this truly is a return to form for the series.

Then, we travel to Gotham City for Batman Arkham Origins, a prequel story set just two years into Batman’s crime-fighting career. Warner Bros. Montreal have taken over the reins of Rocksteady’s outstanding Arkham franchise, and the results are roughly what gamers have come to expect based on the series’ first two entries. The game is still a combination of moody atmospherics, free-flow combat mechanics, predator missions and villains galore, but there are some changes to the formula as well. This time around, there is a focus on second-string villains (giving baddies like The Electrocutioner, Anarky and Shiva some time in the limelight), and a larger focus is placed on Batman’s detective prowess with the addition of solvable “case files.” In the end, we tackle the ultimate mystery, of whether or not the game deserves a place on your shelf next to its famous siblings, Arkham Asylum and City.  

But all of this gaming goodness is only the appetizer before our main course of Pokemon, Pokemon and more Pokemon. Pokemon X/Y (or Generation 6) has received nearly universal praise for the way it evolves the series, taking all of the things that make Pokemon great and making them more accessible, better looking and even more fun. This time around, developer Game Freak only added 68 new Pokemon to the index, but it also introduced new Mega evolutions to the mix, as well as new ways to catch and train your favorites in a more user-friendly, less time-consuming way. The social aspects of the game received the biggest overhaul, however, and it has never been easier to connect with friends to trade Pokemon and battle for supremacy. All of these new additions have fundamentally changed the game for Poke players, both in the main game and the online metagame.  We are joined by TJOG engineer Ray Zulkowski, as we take a look at all of these changes, go in depth on every aspect of the experience, and just generally celebrate all things Pokemon.

So join us, for the longest (and quite possibly the best) episode of TJOG ever recorded, where it truly is all about the games. This…is the Joy of Gaming!

Episode 32 - Grand Theft Pokemon

The Joy of Gaming Podcast, Episode 32:

Grand Theft Pokemon

On This episode of The Joy of Gaming Podcast, we (Rich, Tim and Jordan) talk about the games we’ve been playing recently, most notably, Grand Theft Auto V and Pokemon X/Y. GTA 5 was, appropriately, 5 years in the making for Rockstar Games, and the tremendous scope and overall polish of the experience certainly account for the long development time.  After all, GTA is not a series that Rockstar takes lightly. The question is – just how seriously do they take their characters and story? Jordan found himself a bit disillusioned by the end of his playthrough of the game, and we’ll talk about why. Oh, and there’s also that little thing called GTA Online. We talk about that too.

Next, although we plan on recording an entire episode dedicated to Pokemon X/Y in a few weeks, we couldn’t wait to discuss our first impressions of this newest evolution of the beloved franchise. We talk about starters, legendaries, differences between X and Y, the major improvements/changes that Game Freak made this time around, and, of course, those love-‘em-or-hate-‘em roller-skates.

And, as this is an episode of TJOG, we also talk about the latest gaming news, including Valve’s Steam OS and Steam Machines, Beyond: Two Souls and its divisive review scores, our trip to the Escapist Gaming Expo, Insomniac’s Fuse disappointment and high hopes for Sunset Overdrive, and more. Then we talk about the other games we've been playing, including Diablo 3, Puppeteer, Virtue’s Last Reward, Cookie Clicker, Rayman Origins Vita, etc. And finally, we finish up with a brief discussion of our gaming guilty pleasures to round out this jam-packed podcast experience.

‘Tis the beginning of the Fall season of gaming, and Grand Theft Auto 5 and Pokemon X/Y are just the beginning. This…is the Joy of Gaming!

Episode 31 - SpoilerCast: The Last of Us

The Joy of Gaming Podcast, Episode 31 -

SpoilerCast: The Last of Us

**********SPOILER WARNING*************

THIS EPISODE CONTAINS FULL STORY SPOILERS FOR THE LAST OF US. PLEASE LISTEN AFTER COMPLETING THE GAME, OR AT YOUR OWN RISK.

On this special edition episode of The Joy of Gaming Podcast, we (Rich, Tim and Jordan) go in-depth on The Last of Us, the game that some critics and fans are calling “the best game of the generation.” And while we all agree that such acclaim may be a bit overboard, there’s no denying that since its release on June 14, this game has claimed a significant place in the hearts and minds of gamers, and will be a story and gameplay touchstone for gamers and game critics for many years to come. But why is this game so important in the overall scheme of things? We’re here to figure that out, and give our take on its gameplay mechanics, production values, and most importantly, the game’s engaging and controversial story (and very divisive ending). 

For the first part of the podcast, we also chat briefly about video game news, and move our sound engineer Ray around to the front of the microphone to chat about the games he’s been playing. Our discussion includes Skullgirls, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Saint’s Row 4, Diablo 3, and more.

So join us, as we shiv the proverbial clicker in the mouth, and tear into this game like the apocalypse. Because even at the end of days, this… is The Joy of Gaming!