A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

This week on Hardline, Bill, Steven, and I used the PlayStation's 20th anniversary as an excuse to bring up a bunch of old games for better (Bushido Blade, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night) and for worse (Blasto, some fighting game with a praying mantis).

There's also last-minute talk of dog testicle physics in Ashen Rift, w?hich easily would've been the highlight of the episode except Steven's att?ire happened and, well, you'll see.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS or download directly.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

This week on Hardline, Steven, Brett, and I spoke about Avalanche finally confirming Just Cause 3 after all those leaks, Brett's review of Assassin's Creed Rogue, and funny faceless and infinite-jump glitches in Assassin's Creed Unity and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric.

The highlight of this episode is by far Steven's ?cat.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS or download directly.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

_{[This episode of Hardline is sponsored by The Crew. We're giving away a silly amount of codes for this weekend's beta on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One right now. Claim yours here.]}

It's been a while since Brett, Steven, and I have been in the ?same virtual room together to chat about games 'n' stuff so our reunion on this?? week's Hardline got out of control.

We talked about Majora's Mask for 3DS, amiibo (not amiibos), Game Boy Advances, The Witcher 3's free DLC, Steven's garbage- and candy-filled trip to Paris Games Week and Game Connection, and these culturally significant photos.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS or download directly.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

For this week's podcast, Bill and Brett spoke with me about the first few hours of Alien: Isolation and how its hulking Xenomorph is among the scariest videogame enemies ever conceived. Lot of Alien talk this episode, including an obligatory nod to Colonial Marines' crappiness. Like you do.

We also chatted about how Super Smash Bros. is good but far from ideal on 3DS, those hilarious botched face scans in NBA 2K15 that are making the rounds, and Evolve's upcoming alpha.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS or download directly.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

Hardline is back! For this week's episode, Max filled in to speak with me and Bill about Destiny and how the game fails to live up to Bungie's pedigree in some areas. Super Smash Bros.,?? on the other hand, is just plain great, even if the 3DS demo is on the short side.

Max also became obsessed with Goat Simulator clones on the App Store and shared his idea for a potential Duke Nukem / Aliens crossover game that would be amazin??g, in the r??ight hands.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS or download directly.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

Capcom is bringing a remaster of the Resident Evil remake for GameCube to current systems and that's?? good news for?? folks like me, Brett, and Bill who missed out on it. But all of these re-releases of games that came out within the last couple years? We're not so sure.

For this week's episode of Hardline, we also talked about the differences between Assassin's Creed Rogue and Unity -- one has penguins, the other doesn't -- and what lies ahead at gamescom next week in Cologne?, Germany. That blasted Steven was a no-s??how.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS or download directly.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

For this week's epis??ode of Hardline, the major topic of discussion was Electronic Arts' new subscription service for Xbox One that offers full access to select games and discounts on digital DLC and full-game purchases for $4.99 per month, or $29.99 annually. Is it a good value, and if so, for who? Was Sony right to turn down the program?

Steven, Brett, and Bill also chatted with me about Deep Silver picking up Homefront from Crytek and why the lack of period-appropriate decapitations in Assassin's Creed Unity is a bit silly.

We had a technical mi?shap mid-recording that threw off our audio-video synch, so no video episode this week. Sorry! Just imagine Steven looking stoned and everything will be okay.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

EVO happened over the weekend and holy hell, that BlazBlue grand final was something special (watch it here). The year's big fighting game tournament was home to spectacular comebacks and we even got some announcements like Tekken 7 and Raiden in Mortal Kombat X.

But it was Smash Bros. that got me, Hamza, Steven, and Brett the most fired up this week as Lucina, Robin, and Captain Falcon were revealed. We also talked about two upcoming not-MOBAs, Battleborn and Gigantic. Find out which is a "yay" and which is a "nay."

Probably for the best that we took a break between episode 24 and this week's recording. Some decent game discussion took place and I don't think a single fetish was brought up.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS or download directly.

The post Hardline 25:?? EVO highlights, Tekken 7 is real, and o??h so much Fire Emblem in Smash appeared first on Destructoid.

A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

This is wha??t happens when there isn't much news to dig into in the weeks following E3.

I tried to talk with Steven, Brett, and Hamza about a few of the silly EA stories that made the rounds earlier this week -- Mirror's Edge 2 focusing on refining first-person combat, DICE not entirely knowing what made Battlefield: Bad Company 2 special -- but we had vorarephilia on our minds.

If you don't know what that is, as I didn't prior to a couple days ??ago, that's probably for the best.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS or download? directly.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

E3 2014 has come and gone. It was a week packed full of announcements, hands-on se??ssions with new games, and consumption of gross food. But we survived, more or less.

I got together with Brett, Hamza, and St??even to recap the highlights from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo's events and run down some of our favorite games of the show. But before that, we covered the topics that truly matter most -- like juicing.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS or download directly.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

In this last episode of Hardline before E??3 2014, we kin??d of lost our minds.

Things started out proper, with talk of our most anticipated games of the show as well as Mortal Kombat X, Batman: Arkham Knight, and the superb Mario Kart 8. Business as usual.

Then Homefront: The Revolution happened.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS or download directly.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

Most of the interesting news is being saved for E3 in two weeks, but until then, Steven, Brett, and Hamza joined me to chat about the big Battlefield Hardline leak. Hardline on Hardline. We're not changing our show's name, EA. (Please don't force us to ??do so.)

Other than that, Brett us gave the lowdown on The Evil Within and The Order: 1886 following his hands-on preview sessions with both titles. There was also some brief Watch Dogs and Steam Machines talk. I still don't know ?how we managed to go on fo??r as long as we did.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS or download directly.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

This week on Hardline, we discussed the days leading up to E3 including the pre-E3 event known as Judges Week, a gathering of select members of the North American games press who vote on the Game Critics Awards each year. We also got to hear about Steven's recent studio visit to Bastion and Transistor creator Supergiant Games for an interview series.

As for news, Far Cry 4 had some plot details leak, there's a new Batman: Arkham Knight trailer with gameplay footage, Wolfenstein: The New Order managed to receive favorable reviews, and Oculus Rift is coming to select Chuck E. Cheese's (because that's not going to be a dis?aster.)

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS, or download directly.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

This week on Hardline, Hamza gave us the lowdown on Destiny and why, even as a Bungie fan, his excitement for the game has fizzled out. Steven, on the other hand, had nothing but good things to say about Mario Kart 8 after his recent hands-on preview. Th?ere's a Blue Shell killer!

We also brought on Dale and Brett to talk about Nintendo skipping its E3 conference and whether or not that even matters, Sony Online Entertainment introducing a $14.99 all-access subscription plan for its games, Daylight dropping the ball, and how Microsoft is getting into original television programming. I tried to chat about Dark Souls II but only Steven would bite. I have failed.

The post Hardline 017: Destiny, Mario Kart 8, and a Bunch of Dir??ty Old Games appeared first on Destructoid.

A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

This week, Hardline went into dangerous territory with a five-person show. It wasn't a disaster, but it sure could've been! (Well, it was, but for different reasons. Kidding. A little.)

Hamza Aziz, Steven Hansen, Dale North, and Brett Makedonski joined me to cover big stories of the past few days, like the PS Vita upping its PSP/PS1 game compatibility (temporarily, it turns out), what's new with Watch Dogs, and the Game Boy turning 25.

When we weren't being derailed by mysterious vacuum cleaner and hissing noises, we talked about Nintendo getting into season passes with Mario Golf: World Tour and how Dale h?as never bought downloadable content before, our thoughts on open-world?? games trying to do too much, and why we just can't get enough of speedruns.

This is the part where I'd link you to the audio-?only version of this episode, but that's held up by some pending issues. It's YouTube only this week. Sorry!

The post Hardline 016: Mario Golf, Watch Dogs, and Game Boy’s 25th birthday appeared first on Destructoid.

A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

Did?? I end the last episode of Hardline by saying we'd be back a week later if we weren't murdered and left in a ditch somewhere? And then we went tw??o weeks without a follow-up?

Well, we aren't all dead -- just on the inside -- but we did bring on Destructoid c??ontributor Brett Ma??????????????????????????kedonski and Hardline producer Bill Zoeker to fill in for this recording.

Topics this week include April Fools' Day bringing out creativity for 24 hours, the Amazon Fire TV, Uncharted writer Amy Hennig joining Dead Space maker Visceral as creative director on an untitled Star Wars game, Square rethinking its JRPGs, Phil Spencer becoming head of Xbox, GTA Online adding heists, game jam?s gone wrong, and whether or not a fourth PAX is worthwhile.

Unfortunately, we've had some temporary technical issues getting this week's episode on YouTube, but we didn't want to make you guys wait for the podcast version. For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS, or download directly here.

The post Hardline 013: Amazon Fire TV, heists coming to?? GTA, and too much PAX? appeared first on Destructoid.

A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

On this episode of Hardline, I was reunited with my good friends Steven Hansen and Hamza Aziz for a lengthy c?hat about Sony entering the virtual-reality headset market ahead of rumors that an announcement will happen next week at GDC. Is this destined to be another peripheral the company eventually abandons? We're worried that might be the case.

Other points of discussion include the Witcher 3 delay, DriveClub being a not-great racing game and going "back to the drawing board," Xbox Live's Games with Gold possibly improving down the road, the return of Flappy Bird, and the arrival of the illusive Frog Fractions 2.

Finally, the three of us recapped a few of the big reviews of the past week: Dark Souls II, Titanfall, and Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster. Steven said things about the Final Fantasy series which may or may n?ot make you want to form ?an angry mob.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS, or download directly.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

On this week's Hardline, Steven and Conrad joined me for what turned out to be a lengthy discussion about the future of Nintendo. It's been suggested that the company make games for mobile, but is that really such a good ide?a? And is there any salvaging the Wii U?

We covered those questions and more, as well as Conception II, Microsoft buying Gears of War, and we kept talking about Grand Theft Auto for reasons I can no longer remember.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS, or download directly.

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A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

Max Scoville and Conrad Zimmerman appeared on this week's Hardline to share their thoughts about the controversy surrounding Microsoft's media buy in which Machinima partners were paid to make videos promoting the Xbox One without disclosing the partnership, and the trademarking of the word "Candy" by Candy Crush Saga maker King.

Then there was the whole "Nintendo has to rethink its business structure" thing after the company substantially lowered its sales forecast for the Wii U this year. Not a very uplifting week in game news, all things considered. On a brighter note, there was a fair amount of chatter about?? Max hiding a Game Boy Micro in his body (use your imagination) and we came up with a borderline believable scenario explaining why he'd need to do that.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS, or download directly. (Also, episode 006 is now u?p on iTunes. Sorry for the lateness!)

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Chat with us about the week's game news

My regular crew has abandoned me for this week's Hardline, but no matter -- I've got Max and Conrad filling in while everyone else is traveling. A few stories have blown up over the past several days and we'll be discussing those live on Twitch.tv at 11:00am Paci??fic. We'd love to have you stop by and participate in this little podcast of ours.

Most notably, there's the Xbox One promotion with Machinima that's really gone over poorly; Candy Crush maker King.com trademarking the word "Candy," which, again, people sure aren't happy about; and Nintendo's lower-than-e?xpected sales forecast causing lots of speculation about how the company might change its business structure. Let's do this thing.

The post Hardline: Candy Crush drama, Xbox One ads, Ninte?ndo appeared first on Destructoid.

A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

On this week's episode of Hardline, the regular crew is back in full force as Dale joins us after marathoning Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. We had a lengthy discussion about the Wii U and PS Vita perpetually needing "just one more game" to make them worth?? purchasing, or so some commenters say, and what it takes to ??be able to keep up with games professionally. (Basically: Not getting sucked into any one title, especially not MMOs, for too long.)

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS, or download directly.

The post Hardline 006: Where’s the love for Wii U and PS Vita? appeared first on Destructoid.

A laid-back discussion of this week in gaming

Refreshed from a lovely holiday break, we're back with another episode of Destructoid's news discussion podcast, Hardline. With the Consumer Electronics Show giving us something to chat about in an otherwise dry month, we couldn't h??ave returned at a better time.

Hamza, Steven, and Conrad spoke with me about Sony's backwards-compatibility solution for PS4, PlayStation Now; the laundry list of Steam Machines shown at CES; Razer's crazy-looking modular PC; the new survival-horror Alien game that sounds shockingly good; Titanfall's 12-player limit; and our most-wanted games of 2014. Among other things.

For the audio-only episode, you can subscribe on iTunes and RSS, or download directly.

The post Hardline 005: PlayStation Now, Alien, 2014’s most wanted appeared first on Destructoid.

We're back from break

Gosh, it's been a long time. With Christmas, New Year's, and not a heck of a whole lot to talk about in the world of videogame news anyway, we've been on a long break from recording our podcast Hardline. Please join me for a chat with Hamza, Steven, and Conrad on Twitch.tv at ap??proximately 11??:00am Pacific as we record this week's episode live.

Scheduled topics today include Sony's cloud gaming service PlayStation Now, the assortment of Steam Machines shown at CES 2014, Razer's bizarre-looking modular PC, Alien: Isolation, and our most-wanted games of this new year. But, of c?ourse, we'??re always appreciative of any questions you want to throw our way.

The post Hardline live: CES, PlayStation Now, and Alien: Isol?ation appeared first on Destructoid.

I was contractually obligated to write that headline

Hamza got back from vacation just in time to chat about a bunch of Nintendo announcements on this week's Hardline, including a Dynasty Warriors-style Zelda game and NES Remix. The gang also shared its thoughts on Steam Early Access titles like the DayZ standalone alpha blowing up?? the charts, PAX's so-call?ed Diversity Lounge, and this messy YouTube Content ID situation everyone is on about. Also, smoothies.

Due to some technical issues with the recording, the audio-only episode isn't up on the usual feeds yet -- but you can still subscribe on iTunes and RSS. Wit??h Christmas falling on Wednesday, we won't be doing a new episode this week. Happy holidays!

If you were one? of the people to ask about timestamps, we do have those now thanks to our gracious producer Bill Zoeker. Find those in the YouTube description.

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We survived Spike's VGX. Mostly.

We're recording this week's episode of Hardline a tad bit later than normal, so apologies for putting an end to the routine. While I've been unfairly blaming the harsh winter weather for many things lately, that is the actual reason for the delay, I swear. Join me, Dale, Steven, and Conrad on Twitch.tv at 12:30pm Pacific. Hamza should be back from va?cation n??ext week.

Scheduled topics this week include Spike's VGX, the game announcements which broke over the weekend -- including the terribly intriguing space exploration title No Man's Sky -??- and some light discussion about the w??orst games or the year and our favorite moments so far.

If you're able to stop by in chat, by all means suggest topics you'd like us to talk about -- we're ready and will??ing for things to get weird. Otherwise, check back on Friday for the full recording of Hardline to hit iTunes and YouTube. We'll still? love you.

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Streaming on Wednesdays at 11:00am Pacific

It's been a rather slow news week as we move into the holiday season, but that's not about to stop us from continuing our new podcast, Hardline, which we've only just started. While I've managed to scrounge up some topi??cs to discuss with Conrad Zimmerman and Steven Hansen on ?today's episode, we'd love for you to drop by and participate as we record.

We'll be streaming on Twitch.tv from? approximately 11:00am Pacific? to noon, so head into chat and yell things at us, if you'd like.

The post Join us live for a recording of our new podcast ?Har??dline appeared first on Destructoid.