Game Under Podcast Episode 101.5

After our first official "Lost Episode", our show 102, Tom and Phil drown their sorrows by taking on a completely non-gaming related topic, that of Shakespeare, and his place in literature. (Click Here for Episode 101.5)

A scene from Shakepeare's most recent game, King Lear.

No, seriously, there is not a smidgin of gaming discussion in this episode (well, there is some Kojima talk), we made sure to edit it all out (thus the diminutive ".5" added to the show title. But if you have any interest in Shakespeare (and if you read english, you should) please listen in to this short show before we recreate podcast magic in Episode 102.

If you are interested in this type of content you may also want to read Tom's article covering English Renaissance Plays on Youtube.

- Phil Fogg.

Carol Shaw

It was great to see Carol Shaw recognized for her lifetime achievements at the Game Awards last week.

I've admired Carol Shaw from before I was ten years old, as her visage and name was prominently promoted in the colateral materials for the Activision game River Raid, which I consider to be the best game for the Atari 2600 and is enjoyable today as it was when I first played it in the 80's.

Some of my River Raid stuff. Commodore 64, Atari 2600 cart and the Atari 5200 box (still in original shrinkwrap. I have a couple of manuals for the game as well.

Game Under Podcast Episode 101

Gagandeep Singh of the Endless Backlog Podcast joins Tom Towers in Smugcast 2, to discuss the Wonderful 101 (get it?), Horizon Zero Dawn, Super Mario Oddessy, Killzone Vs. Halo, GTA III through V, Platinum Games Studio and much more.

However, just in time for the announcement of Bayonetta 3, they debate which is better, Bayonetta or Bayonetta 2; and whether Gagan and his bros simply suck at Metro and Killzone.
Listen Here.

Game Under Podcast Episode 100

Tom and Phil finally make it over the line to give their views on minivans, Super Mario Odyssey, marguerita glasses and the current status of the gaming scene.

Thans for listening.

Game Under Podcast Episode 99

Tom and Phil return to discuss Cloverfield and its political subtext, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (probably some other games, too; we can't remember), and why videogames are not art. With actual reasons. Roger Ebert wishes he was on this level.

Oh, as well as little bit about Godzilla, Cloverfield and their political subtexts. 

Game Under Podcast Episode 98

In Episode 98 of the Game Under Podcast, Tom Towers and Phil Fogg return remastered in HD to give their final impressions of a long list of games, discuss the Cold War and make sense of Pseudo-Academic New Commercial Post-Textual Video Game Criticism. Or, as it is known to the layman, YouTube video "essays" and reviews.

Here's a bunch of games: The Cat Lady, Mafia III, Splatoon 2, Year Walk, Uncharted: Lost Legacy, SNES Mini, Yoshi's Story, Titanfall II, Yakuza 0, Transformers Destruction.

Click here to listen.

Switch Unboxing Pictorial

I hope this pictorial gives you a sense of the size of the Switch and what you get in the box (Pro Controller not included). (Click on the image to progress to next one).

- Phil Fogg

Super Nintendo Entertainment System Mini

I was able to pick-up a SNES mini a few days ago online for the Australian price of $126 (that included shipping). It was a limited window sale on ebgames.com and since I knew it was difficult to find at retail decided to take the plunge (it is currently selling on Ebay for $190).

Sits nicely in the Nintendo section. (The NES and SNES have moved to the shelf now that the Retron 5 is hooked up).

I was not all that interested in the system, since I have almost all of the games that come on the system, and by last count five SNES or SNES clones on which to play them, but relented on the basis of it's convenience and reliability.  Old carts work reliably in the original hardware, but the original hardware does not display that well on HDMI.  The downside of the clones like the Retron 5, is that often the emulator does not include the cart you want to play.

This way I can play most of the classics, with the benefits of save states, with a high degree of convenience.

Inside the SNES mini, looks just like the NES mini. Photo courtesy of https://mynintendonews.com/, please visit their site.

Here in Australia we get the EU version, which comes with two of the four colour buttons, as opposed the violet and purple buttons of the NTSC version. The downside is the buttons are all convex, unlike the top two buttons on the NTSC version which are concave. Oh and... the cables are too short, okay if you are outputting to your PC monitor, but in the living room you won't be able to sit on the couch and play at the same time.

The only other down-side is that you'll need to supply your own power.  Nintendo provides a USB cable, but no wall adapter.  I used a Samsung micro-USB charger and it worked fine.

All in all, it's a nice little package, and well worth the price.

For reference, here are the games on the system.

• Contra III: The Alien Wars
• Donkey Kong Country
• Earthbound
• Final Fantasy III
• F-ZERO
• Kirby Super Star
• Kirby's Dream Course
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
• Mega Man X
• Secret of Mana
• Star Fox
• Star Fox 2
• Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
• Super Castlevania IV
• Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts
• Super Mario Kart
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
• Super Mario World
• Super Metroid
• Super Punch-Out!
• Yoshi's Island

- Phil Fogg

Darkest Dungeon: The Crimson Court Review

If there was a review embargo, it probably lifted long ago, but here's the review of Darkest Dungeon's first expansion 'The Crimson Court.'

Bithell Games Podcast Listener E-Mail

Phil Fogg and I are both big fans of the Bithell Games podcast. It's essential listening for anyone with a casual interested in videogame development, as it regularly goes into detail about the unglamorous bits of being a world famous indie game developer, and sometimes even reflects on Mike Bithell's years in Triple A, and Alexander Sliwinski's years in the press.

But this episode is of particular interest to Game Under fans—I wrote in, and Mike and Alexander were kind enough to spend half an hour answering my question! It was very illuminating for me, and I'm sure it will be for you if you've ever wondered why videogame developers and publishers are so reluctant to speak openly about their jobs. 

Please to enjoy.

- Tom Towers