castmedium
Join us at our new home: Game Thing Daily and Tech Thing Daily!
iTunes
RSS
Twitter

Blog Archives

Mobcast

Mobcast 88: Cheering at press events, lesser-known 2011 titles, video-game word association, and more

by Alex Martin in Games388 days ago

GamePro’s AJ Glasser returns to the Mobcast, along with regulars Shoe, Brett, and Aaron. First off, Brett asks which unsung games of 2011 the crew are looking forward to. They talk about downloadable games such as Stacking, Ilomilo, and Raskulls; The Sims: Medeval; PilotWings for the 3DS; Child of Eden, which could make interesting use of motion-control and music; the design tools in Little Big Planet 2; and obscure Japanese role-playing game Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll. Shoe, perhaps prompted by a recent profile on Bitmob as much as...

Mobcast

Mobcast 80: Streaming Games, Harry Potter, the Consoleless Future, and More

by Alex Martin in Games445 days ago

Bitmob’s Aaron, Brett, and Omri are joined by freelancer Ben PerLee for this week’s Mobcast. They start by discussing OnLive’s Microconsole. The box streams video and audio rendered on a server, and allows gamers to rent games their PC might be incapable of running. They share their impressions of it so far, and discuss whether it (and similar services) could be the future of games. Another new way to distribute games would be to offer them à la carte. Would offering games on a pay-per-level plan be a good idea, or should gamers...

Mobcast

Mobcast 79: Improving PR, Vacation Games, Manuals vs. Tutorials, and More

by Alex Martin in Games452 days ago

Former 1UP podcaster Ray Barnholt, and Karen Chu of Gamepro and Geekbox are Aaron and Demian’s guests on this week’s Mobcast. They start by suggesting games for Demian to take on his next vacation. Their handheld discussion leads into Karen’s topic of iPhone games. But even though she’s currently glued to Pocket Frogs, she still hasn’t found an iPhone game that lasts her more than a week. The community topic this week is public relations. They talk about some of the best and worst (mostly worst) practices of the games...

Mobcast

Mobcast 75: Glitches, Gamer Representations, Defining “Indie,” and a Quiz!

by Alex Martin in Games, Movies, TV479 days ago

Area 5′s Matt Chandronait and Press Pause’s Carlos Rodela join Bitmob’s Aaron Thomas and Brett Bates. Before getting into the meat of the podcast, Matt talks about Area 5′s pricing experiment for CO-OP. The first topic is female avatars. It’s not just about looking at something pretty for these guys, as they’re tired of male action-heroes, and want to explore other roles. Aaron usually picks a man, though, whenever there’s a gameplay difference. Carlos talks about some of the fun bugs he’s experienced...

Mobcast

Mobcast 73: Emotions Run High

by Alex Martin in Games494 days ago

The Mobcast is Aaron Thomas flavored this week, and he’s joined by GamePro’s AJ Glasser and GameXplain’s Andre Segers and Jimmy Thang. Aaron starts by asking the table for their biggest professional regrets. His is his Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction review. Insomniac weren’t pleased with it, and he still feels he could’ve more clearly justified his score. AJ regrets an inaccurate Kotaku post, and Andre and Jim similarly rue factual inaccuracies. Next, Andre invites them to share their most emotionally moving...

Mobcast

Mobcast 71: The Community Questions Episode

by Alex Martin in Games508 days ago

It’s a community topic special, this week on the Mobcast. Bitmob’s Aaron, Brett, and Demian, along with Screened’s Matt Rorie debate eight topics suggested by Bitmob readers. They start with their most awkward online moments before moving on to why there’s so much disdain for “casual” difficulty modes. According to Matt and Brett, that’s the way to play Red Faction: Guerilla, as smashing buildings is more fun when nobody can stop you. Fallout 3 players had the opposite attitude, which influenced Obsidian...

Mobcast

Mobcast 70: Motion-Control Showdown, Bitmob 2.0, and more

by Alex Martin in Games515 days ago

Carlos Rodela of Chemical Bun Productions (stick with it and he’ll explain that name) joins Shoe, Aaron, and Brett for four gamers, five topics. First, a simple question — PlayStation Move or Xbox Kinect? For those uninterested in their gaming applications, controlling Netflix and Last.fm by waving could be interesting with Kinect. Shoe’s interested in Move’s physical presence, and Brett is looking forward to games that mix traditional Xbox controls and body-tracking. Next, they wonder if Wii owners will upgrade to Move....

Mobcast

Mobcast 69: Failed Hardware, PR Gatekeepers, Gaming Dreams, and More

by Alex Martin in Games, Tech521 days ago

Jeff “Podcast Slut” Green’s tour bus parks outside Bitmob Towers this week. Inside, Jeff is hosted by Shoe, Demian, and Aaron for a nostalgic show. They start by reminiscing about the failed hardware they were fans of. It’s an excuse to rue the Dreamcast’s demise, but they also talk about some of the crazy peripherals they’ve been shown, as members of the press. After that, they look at print media. Shoe can’t see a future in it, even though everyone misses the time and care they invested in magazines....

Mobcast

Mobcast 65: Female Protagonists, Great Game Intros, and More

by Alex Martin in Games550 days ago

Bitmob editors Aaron and Demian host Micah Seff and Andre Segers, both of GameXplain. First, they discuss Activision’s aversion to female lead characters. Apart from the possible reasons for this, they talk about some of their favorite lead ladies. Aaron, whose house is apparently an arcade, asks what past consoles they regret not owning. They talk about what Nintendon’t and whether or not it’s worth picking up the consoles they missed. If you could travel back in time to the dawn of the video game era, what would you take with...

Mobcast

Mobcast 64: Starcraft, Virtual Pets, and More

by Alex Martin in Games557 days ago

Aaron hosts freelance writer Bethany Massimillia, Slide.com community manager Don Francis, and software developer Shanker Srinivasan on this week’s Mobcast. StarCraft 2 can be intimidating to newcomers like Aaron, so he asks if that intimidation is valid. Shanker doesn’t think the story is that special — but it does train you for the multiplayer, where dwells a host of newbies. They move on to other intimidating games, like World of Warcraft, which Shanker compares to smoking. As there are so many different gamers with different...

Mobcast

Mobcast 63: Fun With Reviews, Game Endings, and More

by Alex Martin in Games564 days ago

Robert Ashley (A Life Well Wasted), and Andrew Fitch (1UP) join the Aaron Thomas-Greg Ford hosting team this week. Robert and Greg are leaving California soon, so might be off the airwaves for a while. Robert, out of the games press for a while, asks how reviewing games affects their enjoyment of them. This segues into Fitch’s topic, asking for a unique voice in the games press. A Life Well Wasted approaches games culture from a unique angle, and Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw (Zero Punctuation) has his unique review style, but they can’t...

Mobcast

Mobcast 62: Virtual Reality, Living in Game Worlds, Wal-Mart: The Game, and More

by Alex Martin in Games571 days ago

Shoe and Aaron host returning guests Jeff Reitman and Adam McLaughlin. Despite their comedian background, Shoe starts by asking them a question with distinct Ebertian undertones — would they prefer a great movie or a great game? This turns into a discussion of Star Wars and Indiana Jones and the merits of the different media. Adam has the group pitching advergames and Jeff asks which game adverts misrepresented their products the most. Publishers don’t help buyers when their trailers are full of pre-rendered footage. As Shoe points out,...

Mobcast

Mobcast 60: Annoying Fanboys, Series Reboots, and Gaming on the Cheap

by Alex Martin in Games585 days ago

E3 provided an opportunity for Bitmob’s writers from around the US to meet up. Editor Aaron Thomas hosts writers Mike Minotti, Jasmine Rea, Alejandro Quan-Madrid, and Rob Savillo. The Nintendo 3DS is a piece of radical new hardware, but will it be worth re-buying all the re-made classics it should launch with? The Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake will have a less sadistic water temple, but some announced titles will just be graphically enhanced. Next, they talk about franchises that produce the most annoying fans. Final Fantasy fans always find...

Mobcast

Mobcast 56: Crackdown 2, Multiplayer Memories, and Where to Set the Next Open-World Game

by Alex Martin in Games619 days ago

Destructoid and GamePro freelancer Ben PerLee debuts on the Mobcast, alongside hosts Shoe, Aaron, and Brett. The episode goes up a day late because of Memorial Day. Coincidentally similar to an article on Bitmob from earlier in the week, their first topic is locations for open-world games. The crew suggest settings ranging from pre-colonial North America to the Moon. With Red Dead Redemption still fresh in their minds, they discuss what made the Old West a fun sandbox. Shoe manages to mention Splinter Cell again, as their next topic is multiplayer...

Mobcast

Mobcast 55: Sympathetic Villains, Embarrassing Game Stories, and Memorable Marketing

by Alex Martin in Games627 days ago

Aaron takes the reins of the Mobcast this week with Bitmob editors Brett and Demian joining the bandwagon. Writer Omri Petitte also makes his debut. First, Aaron asks the table if there is a correct way to play a game. The consensus is that so long as you’re having fun then you’re doing it right, but Aaron’s problem of how to approach reviewing a game remains. Demian asks what franchises could benefit from a free-to-play model. A lot of the suggestions are of RPG franchises — as Demian says, there’s a tonne of potential...

  • CastMedium Podcast

    Episode 092 - PTW ahoy!
    Games, tech, and the usual, for the last time. Hello Podcast Thing Weekly.

    Alternative content

    New episodes every Thursday!
    iTunes | Zune | rss

  • Recent Comments

  • Tweets