Podcasts

GI Show 157: Metro: Last Light, Back of The Game Box Trivia

Ben Hanson — Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Our regular podcast host Matt Helgeson is busy with top-secret magazine features, so video producer Ben Hanson is filling in for the first time as the host of the show. If you're a fan of post-apocalyptic worlds and competitive trivia games then you are in for a treat.

In the first segment we talk about the new title from 4A Games and Deep Silver called Metro: Last Light with Jeff Marchiafava (who reviewed it and enjoyed it) and executive editor Andrew Reiner. Centering around the survivors of a nuclear armageddon that live in the Russian subway tunnels, the sequel to Metro 2033 maintains the dark, survivalist tone while refining some of the more annoying aspects of its predecessor. Listen to the segment to learn more.

In the second segment we bring back our recurring trivia show that has contestants Dan Ryckert, Bryan Vore, Jeff Cork, and Kyle Hilliard trying to guess the game based on the descriptions and quotes from the back of the box. It is a close round and a new champion is crowned, so tune in, play along, and let us know what you think in the comments below. Thanks!

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Respec Radio Ep. 42: Neverwinter

Adam Biessener — Fri, 10 May 2013 22:00:00 GMT

We've been playing Cryptic's new free-to-play Dungeons & Dragons MMORPG, and we have deep thoughts to share. Or at least some observations about the lack of bards and RP servers and a comparison to the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online.

I hate to disappoint, but Andy McNamara has a rare absence in today's show. You'll have to make do with GI's Matt Miller instead, though I think you'll find his ability to be baited about 4th Edition knowledge of Dungeons & Dragons to be a solid addition to the podcast.

This week's bumper music is the main theme from Cryptic's Neverwinter.

Find more Respec Radio on iTunes or our RSS feed and/or the hub.

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GI Show 156: EA's Star Wars, Mario Minis, Ace Patrol

Adam Biessener — Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

With regular host Matt Helgeson out of town, GI's Adam Biessener steps in on a week without a standout game release. At least Electronic Arts and Disney made some news by announcing a partnership for Star Wars video games.

The usual three-segment format survives the hosting controversy, though. After chatting about our hopes for EA's recently announced stewardship of the Star Wars license with Joe Juba and Matt Miller, Bryan Vore relays his experiences with Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move and Sid Meier's just-released iOS game, Ace Patrol. Finally, Tim Turi and Kim Wallace join Adam to close out the show with a PSA to Microsoft and Sony with the mistakes we've seen in previous console generations that we just shouldn't have to put up with in the next.

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GI Show 155: Batman Reader Q&A, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

Matt Helgeson — Fri, 03 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

This week, we got to speak with some of the leads on Batman: Arkham Origins and ask them questions submitted by readers. Bryan Vore and Matt Miller, both of who were on our cover story trip for the game, helm the first segment. They asked GI readers for questions, and put the best of them to creative director Eric Holmes and senior producer Ben Mattes.

Host Matt Helgeson returns for the second segment with Andy Reiner and Tim Turi in tow. They are here to talk about Ubisoft's excellent Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, a new standalone game in the FC universe that provides a unique and excellent take on 1980s pulp sci-fi and action films.

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GI Show 154: Dead Island Riptide, Nintendo Sales, AC3 DLC

Matt Helgeson — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

In this episode of the Game Informer Show, we discuss the highly anticipated new Dead Island game, Nintendo's continuing sales struggles, and some new DLC for Assassin's Creed III.

Host Matt Helgeson kicks things off with Tim Turi and Jeff Marchiafava, who are on hand to talk about Dead Island Riptide, the follow-up to Deep Silvers' breakout zombie hit. The game features a lot of the elements that attracted horror fans to the original, but it also misses the mark in terms of polish. Tim and Jeff discuss the game's considerable strengths and nagging flaws.

In the second segment, Matt is joined by Matt Bertz and Ben Hanson to talk about the recent Nintendo financial report, which revealed some disappointing Wii U sales numbers and a shakeup in the company's management structure. Things aren't looking especially good for the Big N right now; we discuss what's gone wrong so far and what Nintendo can do to right the ship.

Finally, Matt Miller stops by to talk about the final part of Ubisoft's "The Tyranny of King Washington" DLC trilogy. This chapter is entitled "The Redemption" and, like the previous chapter, contains both some intriguing content and some frustrating design choices. Miller breaks down his impressions of the DLC in detail.

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Respec Radio Ep. 41: MMO War Stories

Adam Biessener — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 21:30:00 GMT

We promised it forever ago, but Andy McNamara, Adam Biessener, and special guest Robert Johnson of Namco Bandai are finally delivering some of the crazy stories that have taken place in our years playing MMOs.

Andy and Robert have been playing MMOs together since the glory days of EverQuest, and they reminisce about some of the ridiculous things they've done over the years – up to and including camping rare spawns for weeks at a time as a guild. As the host I get in a couple tales of my own (I finally get to tell my favorite-ever story of the Infernal Whisperer on the air), but this week I gladly take a back seat to let the old men tell their tales.

Bumper music this week is the totally classic EverQuest main theme. Enjoy.

Forty more episodes of Respec Radio and counting can be found on iTunes or our RSS feed and/or the hub.

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GI Show 153: Injustice, Dishonored DLC, Defiance

Matt Helgeson — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

This week's GI podcast features an impressive new comic book fighting game, DLC for one of last year's best titles, and an intriguing television show/MMO/shooter hybrid.

We kick it off with Injustice: Gods Among Us, NeatherRealm's latest fighting game. This time, it's not a Mortal Kombat game, but an epic battle between the greatest DC comic book characters. Reviewer Andy Reiner and resident GI fighting game expert Jason Oestreicher join host Matt Helgeson for a lengthy discussion of the game. Both of them love the game, which builds on the MK formula in interesting ways, while adding a good deal of DC comic flair.

Next up, Joe Juba stops by to chat about the Knife of Dunwall DLC for Arkane's excellent stealth title Dishonored. It's a very substantial DLC release, and features one of Dishonored's coolest characters, so fans are advised to check it out.

Finally, Reiner returns with Adam Biessener and Matt Miller in tow to talk about the intriguing partnership between Trion Worlds and SyFy Network - the MMO shooter Defiance. This has a bit of everything: co-op shooting, MMO play, and a strong story-driven tie to the TV show of the same name. It's one of the more interesting experiments we've seen in years, and, so far, they've managed to pull it off.

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Respec Radio Ep. 40: Defiance

Adam Biessener — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 23:58:00 GMT

The shooter MMO from Trion has had some launch pangs, particularly with its console versions, but we have some good things to say about it too.

GI's Andy Reiner and Mike Futter, who have had the ill fortune to (attempt to) play the Xbox 360 version, join host Adam Biessener and his perspective from the vastly superior PC incarnation of the game. As frustrating as the lag and crashing have been for the poor Xbox players, they're not quite as full of anger and hate as you might imagine.

The bumper music in this episode is the Theme from Defiance by the excellent Bear McCreary (of Battlestar Galactica fame, among others). Special thanks to Trion Worlds for supplying the music.

[Note: I said I'd double-check to see if episode missions are in fact removed from the game after the episode in question airs, and it appears that that is indeed the case. Get the sexy purple assault rifle while it's hot, folks.]

The rest of the years-long Respec Radio ouevre longs to caress your earbones, and can be found on iTunes or our RSS feed and/or the hub.

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GI Show 152: Microsoft's Always-On Controversy, Guacamelee

Matt Helgeson — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

This week we get into the controversy started by the tweets heard 'round the world by ex-Microsoft Studios' creative director Adam Orth.

It's been a tough week for Microsoft, particularly now-ex Microsoft Studios' Adam Orth, who touched off a firestorm of online controversy after sending out a series of sarcastic tweets that seemed to confirm that the next Xbox will require an "always-on" Internet connection to play games. This was in addition to a seemingly endless set of rumors and leaks regarding the console. In the first segment, host Matt Helgeson, Matt Bertz, Joe Juba, and Adam Biessener sift through the fallout and give our opinions on the concept of an always-on console.

The second segment is much less controversial, but no less interesting. We actually get to talk about a good game - specifically, DrinkBox Studios' excellent brawler/Metroid hybrid Guacamelee. It's one of the year's best, and Bryan Vore, Dan Ryckert, and Ben Hanson will tell you why.

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Respec Radio Ep. 39: Elder Scrolls Online

Adam Biessener — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 22:00:00 GMT

GI editor-in-chief Andy McNamara makes his long-awaited return to our MMO podcast this week to grill Respec Radio host and GI PC editor Adam Biessener about The Elder Scrolls Online.

Anything that I can speak about from my four hours of playtime in two of the game's starter zones is fair game, and we touch on most of it in between generous helpings of snark and love for Ready Player One (which you should totally read if you're listening to an MMO podcast).

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Complete your collection (guaranteed to never be worth anything, ever) of Respec Radio with every episode we've ever made, available via iTunes or our RSS feed and/or the hub.

GI Show 151: LucasArts R.I.P., Metal Gear Solid/The Phantom Pain

Matt Helgeson — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

In this episode, we bid a fond farewell to LucasArts and ponder where it all went wrong.

Host Matt Helgeson is joined by Matt Bertz, Tim Turi, Andy Reiner, and the newest member of the Game Informer staff, news editor Mike Futter. We're happy to have Mike aboard, but sadly this was a bad in the world of video games. We discuss the demise of LucasArts, why it happened, and how the publisher will ultimately be remembered by gamers.

In the second segment, Matt welcomes back Tim, and they are joined by MGS fans Joe Juba, Dan Ryckert, and Ben Hanson to unravel the sneaky saga of Hideo Kojima's now-legendary fakeout "The Phantom Pain." After all the fake trailers, fake bandaged developers, and subterfuge it turns out to be - as we expected - the next Metal Gear Solid game.

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Respec Radio Ep. 38: Funcom's Joel Bylos

Adam Biessener — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 22:00:00 GMT

The newly appointed creative director of the live teams for The Secret World, Age of Conan, and Anarchy Online joins GI's Adam Biessener for a chat about the dramatic restructuring of Funcom's development teams, commercial disappointments, and the company's future.

Joel Bylos was one of the principal designers on The Secret World, an MMO from last year that won critical praise but failed to hit sales expectations. Now he's tasked with running the recently reorganized teams that work on all three of the company's live games. Listen in for a refreshingly honest and straightforward interview in which Bylos fully owns up to the flaws in his company's games while laying out a series of ideas and goals he has for keeping his players happy and loyal.

Special thanks to Funcom for supplying the Secret World theme music used as bumper beats in this episode and to Bylos for his time and honesty. Please accept my apologies for my own sound quality; Skype was being intransigent.

Get all the MMO banter you can handle and then some with all of the Respec Radio episodes we've recorded, available via iTunes or our RSS feed and/or the hub.

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Special Edition Podcast: Thief

Matt Helgeson — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:49:00 GMT

We asked for questions about the upcoming Thief reboot from our readers, then posed them two of the game's leads.

This podcast was hosted by Game Informer's Ben Reeves and Bryan Vore, who asked the questions to Eidos Montreal lead producer Stephane Roy and lead level designer Daniel Windfeld Schmidt.

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GI Show 150: BioShock Infinite, Halo 4 Castle DLC

Matt Helgeson — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

BioShock Infinite creator Ken Levine headlined last week's podcast, and this week we're coming back with another Infinite-heavy show. It's just that good.

This time around, we do our more traditional review impressions and discussion of the game, which will stand as one of the greatest games of the year, if not this generation. The world that Irrational created in Columbia is amazingly creative and immersive, and the game is grounded in one of the most affecting relationships we've seen in a video game. There's also a ton of finely crafted combat powers and gunplay to go around. All in all, it's a masterpiece, and host Matt Helgeson, Joe Juba (who reviewed the game), Dan Ryckert, and Andy Reiner will tell you why.

In the second segment, we welcome some special guests to the program (via phone). Certain Affinity's senior brand and community manager Mike McCarthy and senior producer Tom Potter call in to talk about the company's upcoming Castle Map Pack for Halo 4. Certain Affinity has deep roots with Bungie, 343, and Halo, and has worked on multiplayer DLC for some of the biggest franchises in gaming, including Halo, Halo Reach, Call of Duty, and Left 4 Dead. They tell us a little bit more about their company and talk about the art and science of creating multiplayer maps.

Note: This podcast is SPOILER FREE.

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Respec Radio Ep. 37: Wildstar Dev Interview

Adam Biessener — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 21:58:00 GMT

Mike Donatelli and Mike Geldard from Wildstar development studio Carbine join the GI MMO podcast for an informal chat about housing, tabletop role-playing, and space bacon.

Host Adam Biessener grills content director Donatelli and global brand manager Geldard on a variety of topics on their upcoming MMORPG. Things start to get out of hand once anecdotes about high-school tabletop role-playing get busted out, though, and really go off the rails shortly thereafter.

No joke: This is my favorite Respec Radio episode I've done in recent memory. Even if Wildstar doesn't sound like a game for you, I encourage you to listen in.

I said I'd dig up some Wildstar video, but the best thing to do honestly is head to the game's official YouTube channel where you can find trailers, gameplay, and more.

Wildstar comes out later this year; look for a beta announcement soon since the developers have started to let fans go hands-on at PAX East as of today.

For those curious, the music in the podcast is the character select track from Wildstar. Special thanks to publisher NCsoft for sending Donatelli and Geldard out to our offices in the first place and supplying the bumper music as well.

For more MMO chatter from GI, subscribe via iTunes or our RSS feed, and/or head to the hub for every episode we've ever recorded.

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[Note: The original version of this article incorrectly listed Mike Geldard's name as Matt Geldard. Game Informer regrets the error.]