We revisit the emulator settlement from last week with some clarifications from someone who is more knowledgeable in the inner workings of that scene than we are.
Some emulator developers have gotten spooked enough to take their emulators offline, others have more resolve with more safeguards.
Digital Eclipse's second entry in the Gold Master Series is out - Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story. It shows that Jeff is a master of the VIC20, but ends abruptly in 1994 - even though Jeff's story is still being told.
The Museum of Play has announced the 2024 World Video Game Hall of Fame finalists - who would you vote for?
Then we talk to OLR about Llamasoft games that we might have played as kids, and who we would pick for the World Video Game Hall of Fame.The Bobby Blackwolf Show
The Bobby Blackwolf Show is a weekly internet radio show and podcast discussing the latest news in gaming as well as sometimes reminiscing about gaming's history. It records LIVE on Sundays at 8PM Eastern/5PM Pacific on the VOG (Voice of Geeks) Network Twitch Channel while taking live calls via Discord and including chat room interaction. The show began in October of 2004 as an internet radio only show, taking a hiatus in December of that year. It relaunched on July 24, 2005 and has been broadcasting new content every weekend ever since. On December 18, 2018, it moved from radio to video on Twitch.
While the show focuses on recent news and events in the gaming industry, frequently it delves into the independent or barely mentioned gaming scene, as well as discussing gaming's history with classic games.
The show has covered six E3's, two GDC's and Independent Games Festivals, four Penny Arcade Expos and multiple Dragon Cons, as well as other gaming events in the southeast, like SIEGE and the Southern Fried Gaming Expo.
Some guests of the show during its long run have been: Video Games Live, Homestar Runner, Atari Flashback 2, Beggar Prince, MechCorps, The Silver Lining, PlayStation Home, Gearbox Software, Devolver Digital, Telltale Games, and the IGDA. Bobby has also interviewed voice actors AJ LoCascio (Back To The Future), Jessie Seely (Double Dragon Neon), Ellen McClain (GLaDOS), John Patrick Lowrie (Team Fortress 2 Sniper), and Jennifer Hale (Mass Effect FemShep), as well as musicians Tommy Tallarico (Everything), Ken Allen (Sierra On-Line), Jake "Virt" Kaufman (Shovel Knight and DuckTales Remastered), and GRAMMY award winner Christopher Tin.
The show does not work without YOUR live interaction, and each chatter is thanked personally at the conclusion of each episode. Come join us on Sundays at 8PM Eastern/5PM Pacific at the VOG (Voice of Geeks) Network Twitch Channel!
We revisit the emulator settlement from last week with some clarifications from someone who is more knowledgeable in the inner workings of that scene than we are.
Some emulator developers have gotten spooked enough to take their emulators offline, others have more resolve with more safeguards.
Digital Eclipse's second entry in the Gold Master Series is out - Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story. It shows that Jeff is a master of the VIC20, but ends abruptly in 1994 - even though Jeff's story is still being told.
The Museum of Play has announced the 2024 World Video Game Hall of Fame finalists - who would you vote for?
Then we talk to OLR about Llamasoft games that we might have played as kids, and who we would pick for the World Video Game Hall of Fame.We start off this episode by remembering Akira Toriyama and all of his contributions to gaming and anime.
Happy MAR10 Day! Several Mario themed announcements were made, such as adding more Mario games to Nintendo Switch Online, and bringing some Gamecube and 3DS titles to Switch, and a LEGO Mario Kart set (a building set, not a video game) coming in 2025.
However, earlier this week Nintendo and the Yuzu emulator team settled for $2.4 million, shutting down the emulator team that worked on Yuzu and Citra for the 3DS.
Warner Bros Discovery has informed independent developers that published through Adult Swim Games that their games will be delisted, and the publisher has informed them that they will just delete the Steam pages rather than do the three clicks to transfer ownership to the indie developers. (The indie developers still own the IP and can republish, starting from scratch.)
Then we talk to Rob about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and why I'm now burned out on it.I finished Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth and moved on to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and no, you don't actually know the story, so be wary of spoilers. (Not from me, though!)
Octopath Traveler has been delisted temporarily from the Nintendo eShop, most likely due to the change in publisher.
Toys For Bob, the studio that brought us Skylanders, is leaving Microsoft after the Activision merger.
Sony Interactive performed a Reduction in Workforce this week, closing several studios and canceling other projects in flight.
EA has also performed layoffs this week, cancelling several licensed games that were in development. The interesting part of their announcement is how much it actually costs to lay off employees and cancel license deals.
This leads to a discussion about if games are really more expensive to the consumer or not, and if the rising game budgets are sustainable given inflation.
Then we talk to Rob about how he hasn't started Final Fantasy VII Rebirth yet.I tried the Apple Vision Pro at an XR meetup for three minutes, which means I'm an expert on it now - and I also met an Apple fanboy who actually believed that everything the AVP did was revolutionary and was never part of any VR device before it. (It was wild!)
Sony announced that they are investigating making the PlayStation VR2 headset work on PC - which would be fantastic for the hardware.
EA Sports will be paying college football players $600 plus a copy of the game if they opt in to EA Sports College Football 2025, but how will they stop people from creating players who opted out without running afoul of the law?
Since there was no OLR, we chatted about JRPG lovers eating good between Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Persona 3 Reload, and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
We also talked about Multimorphic's new title for their modular pinball machine, this one based on The Princess Bride.We start off talking about the return of EA Sports College Football 2025, because it was teased this week to be returning this Summer, and how it relates to one of the quotes in the show intro.
Xbox is bringing four games to other consoles - Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded, to expand the reach of Xbox Games Studios franchises - but don't expect Halo to be on PS5 any time soon.
Of course Phil Spencer says he'd love to see Sony exclusives on Xbox, but he's not holding his breath. He thinks it's in their best interest, though.
This goes into an explanation as to WHY the console wars are "a thing" for consumers, even if it's not for the industry. It's because of the economic status of the loudest gamers - they can't afford multiple consoles so they want THEIR choice to be the correct one.
Then we talk to Rob about the Xbox games going multiplatform.I will NOT be wearing an Apple Vision Pro during a taping of this podcast, because I'm not buying it. This version, at least.
I visited a new pinball arcade in Atlanta, and noticing a new trend in "Eatertainment" venues to bring back Third Spaces to society.
Retailers are starting to drop physical releases, which means that game preservation is going to become much more difficult as time goes on for modern day titles.
Spec Ops: The Line is an impactful military shooter that wasn't a commercial success, but now you can't buy it anymore as it has been delisted on all the digital storefronts. (Since it has a physical release, you can still buy a copy used, though!)
Then we take some time to talk about Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Persona 3 Reload, since OLR was not happening due to a power outage.Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is out, and has been taking up all of my evenings. While the game is great, there are some people that take issue with the fact that New Game Plus is locked behind DLC.
Palworld is the new hotness, and The Pokemon Company had to make a statement saying they'd check to see if there was any IP infringement.
Microsoft announced that they were laying off 1900 people from the Xbox gaming divisions, including many at the recently acquired Activision Blizzard.
Then we talked to Rob about the game industry layoffs and how hard it is to be an enthusiast right now.Awesome Games Done Quick 2024 raised over $2.5 Million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation!
I was fortunate enough to be a host in-person for multiple games throughout the week, and I talk about my experience both behind the scenes as well as just attending the week long mini-convention in snowy Pittsburgh.
Then we talk to Rob about all of the gaming news I missed, specifically the emergence of a game that wasn't known before I left for AGDQ - Palworld.I'm going to be hosting at Awesome Games Done Quick 2024! I will be reading donations on Thursday night for Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, and on Saturday afternoon for Lies of P and Lost Judgment.
I am already sick and tired of Steamboat Willie...
A 13 year old gamer has "beaten" Tetris by getting it to soft lock - something only a Tool Assisted Speedrun has been able to do so far.
A new injector called UEVR can make just about any game made in Unreal Engine work in VR natively.
Then we talk to Rob about arcades and arcade scores.Yes, it's an episode recorded in the afternoon of Christmas Eve and not posted until the new year...the holidays were a thing.
I'm going to be hosting at Awesome Games Done Quick 2024! However, my schedule changed since the 24th, so be sure to check the GDQ website for my name to get my updated times.
Insomniac Games had a lot of data leaked about their games and their employees, and there's been some interesting takes from media outlets who gleefully posted leaks of other companies that are not posting leaks from this one.
Microsoft is deprecating Windows Mixed Reality support and will remove it from future versions of Windows. Consumers will no longer be able to use their WMR headsets after November 1, 2026.
I got the Atari 2600+, which plays the old cartridges, and tested it out with their 10-in-1 cartridge, the 4-in-1 paddle cartridge, the newly released Mr. Run and Jump, the updated Berzerk, ET, and Halo 2600. It performed well for being an emulator that dumps cartridge ROM's and takes the original controllers!
Then we talk to Rob about the end of the year.