Category: Videogames

I’d like to say that I’m going to jump right back into Final Fantasy XIII this weekend, but considering that I’ve been back in America for 14 hours, that’s probably not happening. I need to settle down, adjust to Pacific time, catch up on a ton of email, etc. When I need a mental break (i.e. escape from reality), I’ll probably jump back into Civilization: Revolution on my iPhone. Outside of that, I don’t see myself doing much heavy gaming. Of course I could always be convinced to play some Uno this weekend. Ha!

How about you guys and dolls? What are you playing this weekend?

The first clip of this episode was the season’s most popular. A bunch of girls parading around in bikinis equals traffic. Who knew. Anyway, here’s the show!

Part 1 — I went down to Vegas to catch Sony Online Entertainment’s “Quest for Antonia” modeling contest for EverQuest. I was totally rooting for the gamer girl to win, but she fell just a tad short. Check out these interviews with the contestants, as well as lots of footage of them strutting their stuff. Oh, I almost forgot! Blair Herter was one of the judges in this contest.

Part 2 — Here’s a fun clip for fans of Quantic Dream and Heavy Rain. It’s about the company’s previous title, Indigo Prophecy. I was high on the game from the start and it ended up being one of my favorites for the original Xbox. It’s fun taking a look back at it and seeing how the company’s style has progressed with Heavy Rain.

Part 3 — My pals EGM Mark and 1Up Jane return to Yahoo! Studios. This time we talk about the political heat games were getting at the time. Remember, this was around GTA “Hot Coffee” time. Soon after that, other titles were getting scrutinized. Gettin’ Up: Contents Under Pressure, 25 to Life, and The Sims were just a few of the games feeling the heat (make a Power Station joke please).

For the longest time, this was my favorite episode of Reset. The first segment is one of the best things I’ve ever done. It’s also a little nostalgic since I ended up living with two of the people in the clip. Anyway, please check it out and let me know what you think!

Part 1 — Ah, the “Table of Truth”! At the time of this Midway event, I was annoyed that all the people available for interviews were publisher producers. I was hoping for people from the dev teams. I called an angst-filled audible and decided to talk about these Midway games with my journalist friends…but I waited until they were sauced. Watch EGM Shane Bettenhausen, G4TV Ted Regulski, and super freelancer Christian Nutt talk about games over several drinks. I love this clip and I really hope you enjoy it.

Part 2 — This was a fun Atari trip to Austin. I interviewed Shiny’s David Perry on The Matrix: The Path of Neo and Atari’s Kyle Peschel on TimeShift. I know a few of you are longtime Dave Perry fans. I’m pretty sure my arm was really sore from interviewing two really tall dudes. Ha! That’s what I get for preferring stick mics over lavs.

Part 3 — Here’s a week in the life of me! I went to three press events in a week, starting in Austin, going to Chicago, and ending up in Las Vegas. I got some flack for this segment for being too “insider”. I thought it was kind of neat to show people what it was like to attend a press event and hear some of the stuff I actually say to journalists. It’s a little long, but it’s a different kind of fun too. I vaguely remember a bunch of us getting hammered in downtown Austin. The bus back to the hotel broke down and we had to hang out on the lawn of an office park for a couple of hours until a replacement came. Good times.

From San Francisco to Hollywood to Redwood Shores, this episode of Reset has some interesting variety. It starts out at a new developer studio started by former Blizzard employees, goes to the hippest videogame store in America, and ends up EA’s campus.

Part 1 — Kat caught up with Flagship’s Bill Roper (ex-Blizzard) to talk about the company’s debut game Hellgate: London. While we all know how the game and company ended up, it’s interesting to take a look back at it through the old retroscope…and this segment.

Part 2 — Kat and I paid a visit to Acme Games, the coolest videogame store either of us have ever been to. Acme offers a unique experience that’s way different from going to GameStop. Naturally, this stylin’ game store is in Los Angeles.

Part 3 — Three games. Three journalists. Three times the fun! I went to EA’s campus to check out Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, The Sims 2: Nightlife, and The Godfather. Game Revolution’s Ben Silverman, Game Informer’s Billy Berghammer, and GameSpy’s Willy Tuttle weighed in with their opinions on the games.

The second episode of Reset is full of anime goodness…with a little bit of western thrown in. Kat Hunter and I checked out cosplayers and games at Anime Expo 2005. Back on the home front, I caught up with Neversoft to talk about Gun.

Part 1 — Ah, cosplaying. I still think most American cosplayers are hacks compared to their Japanese counterparts, but there were some pretty cool costumes at Anime Expo. You’ll recognize characters from Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Katamai Damacy, Metal Gear Solid, and more in this clip.

Part 2 — Neversoft made it big with its Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games, so I was surprised when the company went all western with Gun. I interviewed two peeps from Neversoft in front of two hanging people (they weren’t really people) to learn more about the game. They answered the question that was on everyone’s mind at the time: how is horseback riding in Gun different from Zelda and Shadow of the Colossus?

Part 3 — Kat and I checked out a bunch of anime-based games from Bandai. Learn more about Inuyasha, One Piece, Zatch Bell, and more!

The Reset reruns continue! Here’s the first “official” episode of Reset. Joining Zoe Flower and me is the excellent Kat Hunter. At the time, I knew Kat for a few years and found her to be totally charming. She went on to become a great friend that bailed me out of a few drunken situations. Ha! The only hitch was the one time she brought me home, but didn’t know that I had moved. My old roomies were not pleased to have a drunk Raymond thrown upon them. Uh…let’s get to the show!

Part 1 — I interviewed some of my favorite journalists at an EA Sports press event to talk about NBA Live 2006, Madden NFL 06, and SSX: On Tour. Check out what Game Informer’s Andy McNamara, Electronic Gaming Monthly’s Bryan Intihar, and freelance writer Chris Kohler had to say about these games.

Part 2 — I went to New Orleans to attend an excellent launch party for Conker: Live and Reloaded. I had a blast and was a little tipsy by the end of the shoot. Watch me lick a Conker ice sculpture and convince two girls to do the same. Ha! I also talked to several of the developers from Rare as they played their game and partied in N’awlins.

Part 3 — Zoe met up with fashion giant Marc Ecko to talk about his game Gettin’ Up: Contents Under Pressure. In addition to being her always-charming self, she learned some new slang from Ecko. It’s bombin’!